The Northermost Parts of Laos; Villages, Rice Whiskey and Boats Not Buses!

After almost two weeks in Luang Prabang I had to move. With my bank card back the world was my oyster, so I checked out a few places and decided on Muang Ngoi, a tiny town in the north. I boarded a boat in Luang Prabang and did the whole journey in one. It was beautiful, however 9 hours on a tiny folding wooden chair was not the most comfortable experience. I found a room for the night before having dinner and getting some sleep. The next morning I had plans to set out for a local village but these were dashed by grey skies and persistent rain, instead I spent my day in the local bookshop, a beautiful little place named after the resting lady mountain (see if you can spot her in the picture!)


The owner went by the name of Sai, a young Laotian guy who'd returned home from the big city to look after his mum. It seemed his good heart didn't stop with his mum, for the rest of my time there he made sure I was ok, gave me free tea and coffee and even made me scrambled egg sandwiches when I was hungry! In the evening I met three European guys and grabbed a few beers with them, it turned into quite the adventurous night. The village, like many others I'd been in, shut down by around half ten but powered on by Sai's extra strength Lao Lao whiskey we decided to go on a little adventure to some nearby caves. Nearby they were but easy they weren't, we ended up practically rock climbing in torchlight! It didn't take too long to reach the caves and it seemed the cuts and scrapes encountered along the way were worth it, the caves were hideouts from the Vietnam War with all the finds on display in the cave entrance. Beyond the war relics the caves were also home to a fair few creepy crawlies and we saw a moth as big as a bat!

On my second full day in Muang Ngoi I made it to the smaller villages, along with two other travellers. In the main village they advertise it as trekking but it's a gentle walk through beautiful rice paddies and countryside. We visited two villages, about 3 hours from the main town, and had lunch at a local restaurant where we ordered Tom Yum (spicy tomato soup) but were served an intriguing green stalk broth! Whilst the food wasn't the best the people more than made up for it force feeding us yet more Lao Lao and shouting the little English they knew at us.

I stayed in the village another two nights but did little else but wander and spend my days hammock swinging or hanging out with Sai and any other travellers who turned up. On my final night I found out that it was one of the women's birthday the next day and was invited to have breakfast with her and her family before I left. The next morning she greeted me with a huge platter of Buffalo Laap, minced buffalo meat combined with garlic and chili eaten with sticky rice. Not a light breakfast to say the least! But the meat tasted good and the spices warded off any signs of a Lao Lao head.

The next journey was another boat (the only way to get to or from Muang Ngoi) headed to a town on the border of Vietnam. Thank God this was only a one night stopover...it was bound to happen at some point - my first rodent inhabited room. I arrived late in the afternoon and would be leaving in the very early hours of the morning so my brief experience of Muang Khua was bad noodle soup and trying to drown out the scratching and squeaking of rats with a fan. To anyone headed here I'd say splash out and get a good night's sleep! I started to doubt the route I'd picked but only morning and the journey to Vietnam could truly tell...