Muang Ngoi

We went to Muang Ngoi as it was one of the places strongly recommended by Kevin... and we're quite glad we did. Reached only by boat, there is no cars, bikes, or buses. Just one dirt road where the kids, dogs, ducks, chickens, and pigs can roam freely...

http://hobocan.blogspot.com/2009/02/muang-ngoi-nuea.html

First we motored north for 3 hours to get to Nong Khiaw where we get on the boat... this is at a cave near Nong Khiaw, where the locals hid during the war.

we met a nice couple from Arkansas that we "rented" out the bikes to for the weekend... we then ran to the dock... here's a guy carrying a live chicken from the boat.

... and we're loaded up!

This area was heavily bombed during the war... the US spent 2 mil $ a day bombing this beautiful country!!! I'd be much more impressed if they'd spent that much cleaning it up though.


We saw one of these guys along the trail... the Golden Silk Orb Weaver... we saw some in Northern Australia as well.... pretty big... and known to eat birds... seriously.

We went to another cave from Muang Ngoi... and this one is half under water...

... only to find this guy in there! yeah we saw a few... and no we didn't stay too long.

We passed this guy going huntin' for some birds...

The next day we decided to go fishin' after a visit to another village up river.

Some albino water buffs on the way up...

Weavers at the village.

And fishin...

... didn't catch much... but it did give us a chance to see some cool dragonflies.

... and with the fish that we bought... the guides prepared some lunch.

... and of course, with every Lao meal... the Lao Lao (home-made rice whiskey) comes out.

... back at our guesthouse.

with our deck over looking the river.

... a great town, rustic accommodation, run by the one and only "Mama Banana"


... and back to the land of cars and motorcycles


Check out the cushion I sat on the way down.


Went past this guy on our way to Luang Prabang... land of a million elephants.... I doubt he liked the traffic though... more on Elephants coming up!

Northern Laos

After leaving Jasper, we made our way up the steep windy roads to Luang Prabang... which took two days from Vang Vieng.

We took plenty of breaks, for our bums and also to give the bikes a break

Near Luang Prabang we visited these waterfalls... which required a trek through the jungle, then a swim across the river as we had run out of Kip...

Really pretty, but nothing too high to jump off of...

This move I call, "the flail"

Oh, and we ran across this guy along the way.


Luang Prabang is a great place to spend a few days. A World Heritage site, it can be quite touristy, but they are there for a reason. With numerous waterfalls near by as well as an amazing night market. Below are at least 3 good reasons to go...

No smoking city wide!

the monks recieving alms in the morning... Luang Prabang is a famous place to give alms... but you have to wake up early.


In Luang Prabang we picked up Miriam. A Canadian who we met down in Tha Kaek... and kept bumping into along the way... we figured we'd replace Jasper.

And our first lunch stop... mmmm

This is Kimbo's addiction. Red Bull (it's different in Thailand) is a bit too strong for her, so she opts for the M-150... whose motto is "Strength, Courage, Devotion..."

After a 3 hour ride, we made it to Nong Khiaw... a pretty cool place by it self, but also the town to catch the river boat up to Muang Ngoi (check out kev's blog about the place).

Our collection of spirits for the night.

...

Vang Vienging it...

Vang Vieng is a crazy place. Word has it that after the tsunami hit S. Thailand... Ko Phi Phi and other S. Thai party island moved some of the party scene to this small, dramatic place in the middle of Lao.

So if you are looking to party in Vang Vieng, party hard... and do it right. If you are looking for a mellower scene, just avoid the party spots (very easy to do) and stay in a chilled out guesthouse. But don't try to do both... you'll get annoyed at the partyers... or the non-partyers.

Enjoying sunset from our rooftop terrace moments after check in.


The next day, after visiting the rope swings (see last post), we went further north up to a cave with a river running through it.


You spelunk with inner tubes and follow a rope to the end... quite enjoyable...


One (among the many) thing Vang Vieng is known is that it's a very comfortable place to have a hangover (and I'd say most folks here experience a few)... with so many loungy cafes serving fruit juices with the TV playing "Friends: reruns... although our guesthouse refused to play Friends...


This is what Funk looked like 80% of the time...


Awww


The next morning, Funk and I decided to run-off that haziness in our heads with a nice trail run around town... there are many make-shift bridges in Vang Vieng...


And many smaller ones over smaller creeks


...


There's a fee on some of the bridges... like this one... but we didn't have any $$$.. but we were running anyway... so we just ran...


Later that day, we scootered around the area looking for caves, mountains to hike, or swimming holes to discover. This is Jasper's first ever stream crossing on Nice.


And found a cool cave.


With the biggest cave-spider I've ever seen!


The next morning... after a suggestion from Fred, we headed up to this lookout. Which he describes as the "the apotheosis of Zen"... and we fully agree.


Not a bad view egh?


Look Fred! We made it!!! (It's a little better res after you click on it...)




You'll have to ask Funk about this pic... I'll let him tell the story.


More monkeys! This one lives at one of the bars at the rope swing area... kinda sad really... and pretty mangy looking.


After enough caves, tubing, rope swinging, and trail running... we decided to leave town. Here's Kim's potatos and cheese for brekky... woohoo


Our parting shot with Jasper. He took a bus to Vientiane, a flight to Bangkok, a flight to Phuket, then to Seoul, and Seattle, then home... phew. I'm sure he appreciated the shot. The Woodford's was a Funk item. Although he only brought a very small day pack, he made room for the Woodfords... priorities.