OnTheRoad

Muong Ngoy is a small town about an hour and a half up the river (the only way up there - no road access) from Nong Khiaw. All in all, it seems a much more interesting place, although power only operates from half six to ten pm at night. There's tramping, kayaking and camping available, although I had little time to avail myself of it. The setting is beautiful and very peaceful, and the people friendly. I recommend the Alounmai guesthouse, reasonably priced with great rooms back of the main street.

Places to stay: I stayed at Alounmai, down a small lane off the main street. To get there, turn right when you come up from the ferry and continue along for a hundred meters or so, there'll be a sign on the lane to your left. They charge $US5 for a huge room, with your own bathroom and it's nice and quiet. The food is good and Aloun and his wife Ka Mai are great ;)

Things to do: Hire a kayak and go up the river. Apparently a lot of places refuse to hire out kayaks to people, they want them to go on tours - I didn't have any problems, so if you do, just insist that you only want to hire the kayaks. I paid $US6 for the afternoon, but was hungover at the time, so didn't bargain. You should be able to talk that down. Up the river, beautiful limestone cliffs, a cave, and more villages.

There's also a lot of hiking around. I didn't do any, but I hear it's pretty good.

Other than that, chill out, read a book, drink some beerlao!