A Boat to Nong Khiaw - Laos
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This is the boat we took from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw along the Nam Ou River. It snugly fit about 12 people their backpacks. We were all sitting on remarkably tiny kindergarten style chairs - amusing for the first couple of hours, then the leg cramps set in...That said, the trip was terrific and worth every bit of discomfort. The scenery, including the landscape and people-scape, was impressive.Oh yeah, no bathrooms on board (obviously due to a severe shortage of space). When the boat finally made a pit stop (4 hours after launch), the urgency and pending relief was palpable. We haven't seen people move like that since the Black Friday release of the Cabbage Patch Kids.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
He didn't say much, but he got us through shallow water and up small rapids in our little rickety boat with impressive skill. Every now and then he'd stick his hand out and the other boat traveling aside us would come over and hand him a lighter to light his cigarette. Not a man of many words.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
A taste of the landscape along the Nam Ou River.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Our boat traveled in a pair, in part for safety reasons and primarily because they sold too many tickets and couldn't shoehorn everyone to fit in one boat.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Kids play on shore and wave to us as we putter on by up the Nam Ou.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Waving from boats, waving from the shore, just waving. And remarkably friendly smiles, too. That defines the journey along the Nam Ou from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Along the journey to Nong Khiaw, we saw groups of boys with masks on who apparently dive for their fish.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
More landscape cuts from the Nam Ou river between Luang Prabang and Nong Khiaw.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
One of the numerous herds of water buffalo relax along the Nam Ou riverside.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
The main street of Nong Khiaw offers an odd blend of modern and traditional - thatch houses, satellite dishes, wooden carts and mobile phone card shops.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
The Nam Ou carves an impressive path through the mountains of northern Laos.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
We originally planned a more substantial hike into the hills, but the Nong Khiaw tourist office had absolutely no information on...Nong Khiaw.So, we set off on the paved road out of town and headed towards the caves. We came across several villages along the way where simple village life lay in plain view. It was a great trek after all.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
We trekked ourselves outside of Nong Khiaw and came across some villages that were paid less than the occasional visit from tourists.We showed the mother the photo afterwards in the display, and she called her family and friends around to look at it. Everyone in the village seemed to get a good laugh.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
This man was hollowing out bamboo and making perfectly formed sticks...all day long, from the moment we passed in the morning to the moment we returned in the afternoon. He had a great smile.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
No short supply of livestock in the mountains of Laos. This particular specimen didn't quite know what to do with us other than to pass us a perplexed look and take off up the mountain.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
This girl was laying out bamboo flower reeds to dry out in the sun. They are exported to Thailand for use in making pillows and car seats (or so we were told).Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
Audrey hands out one of the Lao alphabet books we bought from the children's book publishing and literacy program, Big Brother Mouse. We noticed a school in the village, so we figured there were some literate kids somewhere. Based on their reactions, these kids had never seen a book before. Imagine that. They simply did not know what to make of it, nor what to do with it. Audrey opened it and started flipping the pages. The kids got a kick out of pointing at the pictures and saying the word in Lao. Lots of giggles. In the end, we left the book with a couple of boys a few years older who looked like they could make better use of it.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos and Big Brother Mouse.
This sign was above a huge crater in the ground next to the Tham Pha Tok cave where villagers hid out to escape American bombings.According to our guidebook, the American government dropped over two million tons of bombs between 1964 and 1973 as part of the Secret War to root out communist sympathizers. Parts of northwestern Laos are riddled with pock-marks and unexploded ordnance.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
Rice fields below the Tham Pah Tok cave stand flooded in preparation for rice season.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
If people are impatient, they can dry out the reeds by fire instead of letting them dry in the sun. How they manage to do this without burning their villages to the ground, we have no idea.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
The late afternoon sun has its way with the Nong Khiaw landscape.Read more about the villages near Nong Khiaw, Laos.
