We were finally able to exchange some money this morning when the manager of the hotel returned from a bank run last night. Our hotel River Side gives the best exchange rates in town, even though they were pocketing about a 10% commission. We had breakfast, bought a ticket for the boat north and packed up.
We said goodbye to David who was going back to LP, and actually ran into the Finnish girl who was now traveling in her own, her Swedish compatriots having moved on to Vietnam. It's interesting having spent the three nights in Nong Khiaw because at the end we were the "veterans" of the place. We kept running into the other passengers in our boat but noticed which groups were newly arrived.
Sitting at the boat landing was kind of interesting, watching boats come and go, people getting on and off. A gay man from Toronto said we were a gorgeous couple. Being seasoned light packing snobs, we shook our heads at people lugging around suitcases full of stuff. Nowadays, even the younger backpackers have their huge bag on their backs and the a regular backpack in from. This is not unlike when I went to Cameroon and took my own picture of me hauling the same in Brussels.
A boats came in and unloaded cargo, there were these two old women hauling huge heavy sacks up the hill. They were work horses all right. Young men helped them load the sacks on their backs tied to their foreheads and watched them go, not helping.
Our boat was packed full. There were so many people going to Muong Ngoi that they got a second boat for the overflow. The second boat left and then more people came for a ride. In the end, our boat stuffed 27 people aboard, doubling up on the seats, plus sacks of supplies for the town accessible by river only. It was an iffy ride, especially up rapids, but we didn't sink and made it to Muong Ngoi.
The people here are really one with the river. It is used for transportation and tourism, recreation and food. The day begins with seaweed fishing and ends with laundry and a bath in the river. People brush their teeth in the waters.
Muong Ngoi had a boat landing similar to Nong Khiaw along with the concrete stairs up to town. The guesthouses that we intended on checking out were right at the top of the stairs. The "upmarket" choice Lattanavongsa was $13, clean and even featured a toilet and hot water, two luxuries new since our guidebook's review. Our cheapest yet!
We ate lunch at the restaurant overlooking a similar view of the river and karst mountains, glad that we made it up here away from the main tourist track. Had we gone on to Huay Xai, I think we would have missed out on what we were looking for here in Laos.
Traveling to Laos sounds like such an exotic and adventurous thing to do, even crazier is going to a place like Muong Ngoi where rooms are basic and cheap, and there is only electricity for maybe four hours in the evening. There are no motor vehicles and only one main road here. But wandering around LP and even sitting at the boat landing waiting for our boat along with a whole bunch of other people going to the same off the beaten path place, you realize that this town is pretty much <i> on</i> the beaten path.
It certainly feels safe, there are a lot of tourists here, the locals speak enough English to sell you Mars chocolate bars and enough signs are in English for us to know how to get around. Which is fine for us really I think. If we had another two more days, I think we would have done a home stay, but I am quite happy with having visited Laos here. Were we to do it again, I think we would cut out time from the bigger cities in favor of exploring little towns like these up north.
After wisely sleeping the hot afternoon away, we walked up the road and followed the signs to the cave. We were rewarded with scenery of rice fields in amongst mountains and arrived sooner than we expected.
Shannon didn't want to wander in the cave too far, but I went all the way in with my cell phone flashlight. It was a big cave where again the locals hid out during the war. It was kind of creepy I must admit, being the only one down there. I think turned off the lights and let the darkness envelop me. There was a distant sound of an underground river, the air becoming more humid and warm. With the light back on, I found some white spiders and cricket like bugs that looked as if they'd jump on your face. After climbing around a bit, looking at stalactites chandeliers and imagining where the Laotians slept, I made my way back to daylight.
Cute puppies played around the countryside and walking back we found the main street abuzz with early evening activity. One boy was having fun pushing around a hoe making lines in the dirt. Some cranky babies were crying, kids played ball in the soccer field and others ate dinner without pants on.
Muong Ngoi is more quaint than Nong Khiaw, more unusual given the lack of vehicles and electricity. It is more condensed unlike Nong Khiaw which is bifurcated by the river and features a fancy bridge high above the water. It has more of a community feeling for the reason that everyone its closer together and only has one street. It's a really nice place.
We had some dinner. Selection out in the boonies is definitely limited and I once again had chicken noodle soup and Shannon had laap. I had a pineapple shake which wasn't available to me before because of the lack of electricity.
We had chocolate bars for dessert, an unnecessary splurge for sure. Taking advantage of the last couple hours of electricity, we read on the porch and journals, got clean with a nice hot shower and went to bed, excited to start a new adventure again in Thailand tomorrow.
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