Day 104 - The Crossroads of Muang Khua

The  oring was spent walking around Muang Ngoi in a last attempt at finiding the local area but without success so after having breakfast it was time to check regarding the boat to Muang Khua.

Things in Laos are never fixed and always subject to change or late so if you are in any kind of rush or hurry or work on a schedule don't come here as it will not work out.
The good news was that the boat was running but it was some 50 more expensive, in actual terms about 5 EUR. The better news was that it would be a boat just for two of us who decided to travel onwards today. After being a bit skeptical about this, it did in fact turn out that we had the boat to ourselves and had a fantastic 4h journey on the Nam Ou river.

The views are fantastic along the way and it's such an enjoyable experience to have a boat to yourself to just relax and take in the views. So if you can do go to Muang Ngoi and take the boat from there on a quiet day to really enjoy the trip, you don't want to be crammed with another 5-10 people on a small boat for a long journey.

Once we arrived in Muang Khua, it was time to look at what is available there and what the onward travel options are.

There were two different possibilities, one to go by boat further north to Hath Sa and from there to Phongsali, take a bus to Phongsali but change or take a direct bus to Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam.

Muang Khua definitely felt more local with very few tourists and even fewer places catering to tourists so it was a nice change but the city is not all that great and feels more like a crossroads town where people just pass through, a nice crossroads town though.

The decision of which way to head will fall in the morning and will depend on time, price and how I feel when waking up.

Day 103 - A Cave, A Boat and Touristy Muang Ngoi

Started early again to go and visit Patok cave with two fellow travelers I met in the mini bus yesterday.
The cave is only 2km out of town along the main road so easy to get to and back in the morning and still have time to catch the 14:00 boat to Muang Ngoi.

The Patok cave is more historically important rather than being a interesting cave to explore. It has some remains from the war to see and if you explore a bit further you will get to see the Luang Prabang Bank branch. It is located across the river, through the rice field, past the water buffalo on the right, another right by the provincial government cave, through the jungle and quarter way up the mountain. This must have made for a great journey to pay in a cheque or open a bank account.
I have to do some research if this was actually a bank branch or if someone just put up a sign with this in an unrelated cave.

After having a great lunch in a small family run restaurant by the road on the way back into town it was time to get the boat to Muang Ngoi. This was not quite such an enjoyable journey, despite the fantastic views and landscape, thanks in part to being crammed with 20 people on the small boat. The journey took only 1 hour so it was just about bearable.

Muang Ngoi was supposed to be this quiet, little village in the mountains which until 6 months ago did not have a road or electricity. What it actually is is a tiny littl village full of guesthouses and restaurants catering for tourists. This was a bit disappointing as it seemed to lack character at first sight.

After spending some more time exploring the village and hoping to find the local quarter, I had to give up and admit that it was a very touristy village.

The reason for leaving Nong Khiaw after just one night was to spend some time in the middle of where and relax for a few days. Well, I kind of expected something different and could see the others felt
the same so the general consensus was to keep heading north by boat to Muang Khua and maybe further Phongsali from there in the morning.