A few slow days but mostly travelling

After Ponsavan I returned to Luang Prabang for two reasons. Firstly for provisions - money mainly as there were to be no ATMs in Muang Ngoi Neua and it was rumoured only a few hours of electricity a day so charging the tech was also a must. Secondly the trip from Ponsavan to Nong Khiaw (where the boat to Muang Ngoi Neua leaves from) going east then west was a bit of an unknown in terms of bus connections. Besides any extra time spent chilling at Utopia is a bonus! So with that sorted it was off on another overpacked mini bus. Disaster almost struck when my travel companion left her phone back at the hotel but she was able to retrieve it before the bus left. We arrived in Nong

Khiew and headed for the boat landing. After a short wait the assortment of travellers heading up river were crammed onto a skinny long boat for the hour long trip. Slightly concerned at the guy at the back of the boat bailing out water and the hard time we had fighting against the current we arrived a bit damp but without incident. From the water the first view of Muang Ngoi Neua is a row of riverside bungalows with hammocks lining the shore. I must admit the choice of bungalow came down to which had the most comfortable hammocks as I planned to spend a bit of time in one.

 

The town itself centres on a short road with views of towering cast mountains which surround the town in all directions. A walk the following day would reveal a landscape as beautiful as Vang Vieng.

 

Bedtime was pretty much by 10.30 as the townspeople are farmers and fishermen and its only fair to respect this. But the town very recently acquired 24 hour power. I got talking to a couple of French guys who are doing a documentary about how these changes and the increasing influx of tourists is affecting the town. In one of those serindipitious occurances the next day was market day where people from surrounding villages come to buy and sell. Clothes, shoes, farming and fishing implements, nails and happily for me lovely noodle soup were on offer. Most facinating was sitting overlooking the boat landing watching a family butchering and selling a cow.

 

I'd planned to spend longer (and get through more of my book - Pattern Recognition by William Gibson if you were wondering) but to be honest I was being savaged by mosquitos (the bane of my existance on this trip) so I moved on quicker than I'd planned. Which lead to one of my more epic days of travelling. My plan was to at least get to Udomxai on my way to the Thai border at Huay Xai. Luckily there were a few more people heading in that direction as I would not otherwise have got out of Nong Khiew that day. Onwards travel was at the mercy of local mini bus operator who would not leave without a minimum of passengers (fair enough, petrol and mini buses aren't cheap). So paying double the advertised price we left for Udomxai picking up passengers along the way. Once in Udomxai (it was 3pm at this point) the rest of the group were continuing to Luang Namtha. So I figured, safety in numbers and headed with them on the local maxi bus. Rolled into Lunag Namtha around 7 and found a guest house to overnight in. One more hop the next day (on another packed local bus) brought me to Huay Xai and the border. Huay Xai is like any other border town, well mostly. On my 'post guest house acquired' wander I headed down a side street to the river only to realise it was actually the border checkpoint - not that the guys in uniform seemed fussed or challenged me. At least I knew the drill for the next day. After being stamped out of Laos (Goodbye Laos, I'll miss you) I was the lone occupant on a narrow boat for the short river crossing to the Thai side and the last two weeks of this particular SEA adventure.