Nong Khiaw

Sitting in a jam packed van for three hours took us to this small tourist town. Previously a village centre, Nong Khiaw has slowly expanded and gained notoriety as the fourth major tourist destination in Laos (after Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Vang Vieng).

It’s easy to see why. This town is located on a flat floodplain gracing the inner elbow of the Ou River. On every side of the valley is a large hill, each with its own steep path to their respective summits. The river lazily stretches beyond eyesight, nary a current to be noticed. In the town is a plethora of guest houses, restaurants, hotels and riverside bungalows for tourists to enjoy.

The tourists here were quite lovely too. It was a younger demographic than that of Luang Prabang, but not as young as anywhere in Thailand. Tourist’s here also seemed to be spending a longer time here, up to a couple weeks perhaps. Its a must on any long term travelers itinerary, but gets missed by the rapid go-getters.

The arrival was somewhat chaotic. Prior, we had messaged a hostel for a room but they were full. A very flustered British man showed us to a different guest house behind the hostel instead, showing us a very lovely private room. He then left us there, telling us to look for a boy in a few hours “after he comes back from the wedding.” Somehow, the system worked, and we checked in easily after a good nap.

Our first day had us wandering around the town, getting the lay of the land. We discovered what we thought was a lovely restaurant, Cocohome, but it appeared closed. There was a lovely sunset over the river that we witnessed form the bridge (see above). A quiet first day, and an early night.

We got up around 7 or so for a morning hike. The mornings were cool here in the foothills, and a shallow cloud layer covered the valley. We had the goal of the Som Nang viewpoint, which was a short hour walk up a hill.

The walk went fairly quickly, half an hour in fact! At the top was a Laotian family taking some group photos, and us. We got a nice view of the valley in the clouds.

But slowly, the clouds disappeared. Nong Khiaw is a very humid place. The heat hadn’t come quite yet, so we waited, watching the water vapor dissipated into the sun. At last, the clouds cleared, and we could see the valley in whole for the first time.

Cocohome was closed, so we went for lunch at the Blue Restaurant. We could never figure out its name. It was lovely though. Laotian food takes all the flavours of Thai food, and mixes in the simplicity of Vietnamese. It makes a wonderful combination.

The afternoon was again hot, so we hid indoors.

The evening was spent kayaking up the river. We didn’t exactly have a destination in mind. Just up till we wanted to turn around. The river was filled with small motor longboats. There are villages both up and downstream that are only accessible via river. People ship goods, tourists and themselves via these boats to more remote locations.

Our kayak wasn’t quite that fast, especially with Cam driving. She made the choice to take the backseat and steer, and we never went straight. Its a little bit of a learning curve, especially with the tendency to overcorrect. She got better by the end though. (Graham fails to mention that kayaking is the bane of our relationship. We both get frustrated with each other and I can’t take a joke. So we spent 30 mins pretty much going no where because I forgot how angular momentum works. If we were ever on The Amazing Race and had to kayak, we would lose. Or Graham would drive.)

Sunset from the boat was lovely.

We had a nice dinner with our friends Julian and Miss Julian (we cannot remember her name for the life of us). We met them on a tuk-tuk in Luang Prabang. It turns out, they’re on pretty much the exact same trip as us. We went though South America basically a week ahead of them at all times. And only now they caught up to us.

We got up right at sunrise the next morning for another hike. This was was a lot longer than the day before. The goal was the Pha Kao viewpoint, 2.5-3 hours up the hill.

The early morning was refreshingly cool. The sky just beginning to find its light. We walked along the road for half an hour or so, passing by all the aluminum goods sellers setting up their stalls. Their wares are made from Vietnam War era unexploded bombs.

When the sun fully presented itself we made it to our trailhead. The trail was a short flat section through a cow field, a bridge over a small river, and then essentially directly up till we reached the top. The trail was harsh. Steep, somewhat loose dirt the whole way up. But to our surprise and relief, someone maintains the trail by carving stairs into the extra steep sections. They also create bamboo ladders to ascend small cliffs to continue the trail.

The sun got hot, and even though we were in the shade, the beginnings of heat and humidity really took effect. We sweat as much as you could possibly sweat. The 3L of water we took up was vanishing quickly. It ended up being about half of what we should have brought.

You cannot step off of the trails in Laos. There are too many unknown unexploded bombs in the country. During the Vietnam War, the warring factions didn’t just keep to the Vietnamese borders. North Vietnam supply lines ran through Laos and Cambodia. As a result, America bombed Laos so much, it is the most heavily bombed country in the world (by tonnes of bomb/ citizen). Approximately 50 Laotians a year still die from unexploded munitions from the war.

So we stuck strictly to the path. Our only roadblock was a goat herd early on, who paid us no attention. The top was amazing though. A 360 degree view that stretched to as far a the humidity would let us see. Which wasn’t very far. But it was still lovely.

We must have spent near an hour at the top, trying not to disturb the peace of another couple having a moment. Despite our best efforts, the individually wrapped rice crackers still made a crackle and crunch. We had a lovely conversation with a gentlemen whos name we never got about travelling, and descended down, much quicker than going up.

All the little cut out stairs are great for flying down the hill. Small movements with our feet and you can run down with very little effort. While it took us near two hours to get to the top. It was only maybe one to get to the bottom. We had to be careful at the ladder bits.

Unfortunately in the afternoon, a smoky haze set into the valley. It is burn season in Laos, where farmers burn old vegetation for fertilizer. That smoke never removed itself, so we cancelled our final morning hike.

Success in the evening though! Cocohome was open. It was open this whole time. The main entrance is just on the other side, near the docks. We had a lovely dinner overlooking the river.

We could have, and should have, spent one more day in Nong Khiaw. There were other hikes to do, another direction in the river to paddle. Even a jungle trek to a village, or a boat ride to another. But we were crunched for time, and we never felt the hurt of that self inflicted wound worse anywhere else. There’s technically not much more to do here, and yet so much more. We can see why some people spend so long in the serenity of Nong Khiaw.

From one natural paradise to (hopefully) another. We will see you there!