29th December – Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw

Got up at 6.30 and packed up the bike before having breakfast as soon as it started.  I was on the road by 7.30 and fairly quickly made it out of town and heading north.  The road was better than I had hoped and there was little traffic to speak of, other than a particularly obnoxious convoy of six huge Chinese trucks that blasted along the road pushing even Lao trucks off the road.  I made good progress and was in Nong Khiaw by 11.30.  On the way I came across what was essentially a village fete, albeit in an ethnic minority mountain village.  Many of the girls were dressed in traditional costume and some of them were playing what looked to be a very boring game but may have had some ritual significance that escaped me.  They were lined up in a row facing one another, with each pair in the row throwing a tennis ball to one another.  They didn’t even look as if they were enjoying it that much.  Other people were hurling rocks at a bamboo ‘wall’ with balloons tied to it. 

Nong Khiaw when I got there was very pretty, nestled beside the beautiful Nam Ou river with a big bridge crossing it.  Children swim in the river, women wash their clothes and everyone comes to wash their hair in it.  There were quite a few more guesthouses than I had thought but, not knowing this when I arrived, I took the first one I could find which happened to be at the other end of the bridge.  I was shown into a brick-built bungalow (most are bamboo) right beside the bridge which seemed fine at 100,000kip a night (around £8).  Later, as I sat on its balcony, I did feel a bit exposed being right by the bridge, almost as if I was maintaining a toll booth.  But it was fine.  I changed into shorts and walked back across the bridge into town where I had some delicious Pad Thai at a very laidback restaurant, Coco Home, run by a German chap called Nick (who I assumed was English, having no trace of an accent after spending 20 years in the UK) and his Thai wife.  Very helpful chap.  As the afternoon wore on I felt that this was somewhere I could easily stay for a few days so walked around most of the other guesthouses around town.  However I returned to my own and negotiated to stay for a further three nights in an even nicer one further away from the bridge but still overlooking the river. 

The view from my balcony in Nong Khiaw

Sleepy relaxed place.  The only worry is that I will run out of money and there are no ATM machines anywhere near.  Nick says he may be able to change some sterling so I may have to opt for that.