A Simple Village-Muang Ngoi, Laos (Post #8)

Dear Friends and Family,

We arrived in the remote village of Muang Ngoi by boat. We so enjoyed our time there, in spite of its muddy, rocky dirt roads and broken down structures. There couldn’t be more than a few hundred very poor people living there. There was only one road, a deeply rutted, muddy path, shared by pedestrians, scooters, and an occasional truck. Dogs and cats roamed freely, and it seemed that everyone knew everyone. Simple hippy type travelers mixed with the locals. Our balcony room at Ning Ning hotel overlooked the Nam Ou river. Fishermen cast their nets from boats below us. They began before dawn, worked until mid-morning, began again at dusk, and fished through the night, with the aid of powerful lights to attract the fish. The pier was near our bungalow. Boats left with travelers on a loosely followed schedule. There were no souvenir shops or hawkers and very few camera wielding tourist types in Muang Ngoi. 

Our first night there was pretty noisy. The village participants and monks returned from Luang Prabang where they represented Muang Ngoi in the Dragon boat festival. They were welcomed back with a local “festival of music and rockets.” We walked down to the temple and watched a short parade, set to loud music and drumming. One at a time, “rockets” were launched and shot off across the river until the wee hours of the morning! The next morning, we saw several flower offerings float past our bungalow down river.  

We hiked a really nice trail, another dirt road really, out of town to Nam Khan cave. The locals used it as a bomb shelter during the Vietnam war. A crystal clear river flowed through the cave and out through an opening, just outside the cave entrance. While we were there, a family was swimming and enjoying a picnic. Two rickety foot-traffic bridges crossed this small river and an adjacent river. One of the bridges had a sign that read “one only.” After exploring the cave, we continued down the road escorted by throngs of colorful butterflies. We passed valleys with rice fields and were surrounded by massive karsts, covered in jungle. We loved the valley view and had no interest in any “overlook” treks. Our walk was hot and sunny and, when our trail was blocked by a shallow river, we decided to turn around. The locals just wade or ride their motorbikes across, but we really didn’t feel the need to see another village. We hiked back to the cave, where we shared a cold beer, before finding our way back to Muang Ngoi. We had dinner at a small, family run outdoor restaurant, that had only three tables. We slipped table scraps to a cute dog who wandered over and plopped down beside us. 

We were worn out after our walk and were thankful the village was quiet our second night there. We walked back to our bungalow with the aid of a small flashlight. There are no streetlights in Muang Ngoi. We slept well and awoke to pouring rain. Fortunately, it stopped just before our return boat left for Nong Khiaw. From there, we took a 4 hr shuttle bus back to Luang Prabang. It felt like the big city after spending a few days in the northern countryside!  

We were sad to leave Laos and it’s sweet people. Next, a three day stop in Taipei, Taiwan, followed by three weeks in the Himalaya mountains of Nepal. Hope this finds you well. Sending hugs. 

BnL

Author: bnlmos

We are a retired couple, together nearly 35 years, who love International travel. Having a "blog" is brand new to us, so have patience as we do our best to keep in touch with our friends and family. Please feel free to comment on this blog or contact us via personal email. brucemos@hotmail.com View all posts by bnlmos