( Overview
/ 50 somethings SE Asia travels
Day 30 - 24/2/18
Early morning yoga on the terrace...lovely, check out our view...
After a brilliant night’s stay and fab breakfast we walked to the boat departure point and queued for the boat to Muang Ngoi, to say its disorganised chaos is an understatement but for 25,000 Kip (£2.50) pp what do you expect. Boat eventually left around 11.15 and took about an hour. We stepped off the boat and straight into our accommodation (Ning Ning Guesthouse £20) not that we had a lot to check in. We dumped our bags and headed out, we walked the Main Street in about 10mins and then went to a place back near our guesthouse to book some kayaks for the afternoon. We then headed to the Riverside Restaurang where we met Laura and John an American couple who are staying at the same hotel as us in Nong Khiaw. Had lunch with them, great views, reasonable food but terrible service.
Went back to collect our kayak at 2.30 but decided that we weren’t happy with the kayak’s, a) we wanted our own each and b) the double one they were trying to give us would have fitted two small children, not two large adults!! Cancelled the trip and got our money back and decided to walk / hike instead. Went up go the Phanoy Caves and Viewpoint... two separate large caves, the second and higher of the two was awesome, we must have walked 300m through the cave in the dark before we reached the back of it, no lights, no ropes, it was fabulous and not hard to imagine hundreds of villagers crammed into the caves during the bombings during the Indochina war during the 60’s...
After getting out of the second cave we continued the hike up to the viewpoint, it was absolutely stunning. Made our way down after admiring the view and decided to go have a refreshing drink (it was approaching Happy Hour after all)... we visited a few establishments, can only remember the names of a few! Gecko and The Bee Tree. Decided to eat at Gecko, great food and friendly service but it just took forever, it’s the Laos way apparently...
Went back to our guesthouse around 9.30.
Day 31 - Sunday 25th Jan
Woken up by roosters around 5, got up a 7 for an early breakfast, which was surprising good. Then met our boatman and kayak, we were kayaking from Muang Ngoi. The kayaking trip took about 3.5 hours with no stopping, felt great but very wet when we got back to Nong Khiaw, fantastic scenery on the way and apart from the occasional boat, just us!
Spent the afternoon back at Mandala Eco Lodge relaxing by the pool. Cycled into the village and ate dinner at Q, although I think the food is amazing at our hotel.
Day 32 - Mon 26th Feb
Lovely yoga session in the shala, just me! Where is everyone?? 😀. Nice relaxing breakfast whilst planning the next part of our adventure to Vietnam. We travel back to Luang Prabang today, leaving here around lunchtime and then fly to Hanoi tonight at 5...
Going to relax for a few hours by the pool before we leave, I love it here!
Early morning yoga on the terrace...lovely, check out our view...
After a brilliant night’s stay and fab breakfast we walked to the boat departure point and queued for the boat to Muang Ngoi, to say its disorganised chaos is an understatement but for 25,000 Kip (£2.50) pp what do you expect. Boat eventually left around 11.15 and took about an hour. We stepped off the boat and straight into our accommodation (Ning Ning Guesthouse £20) not that we had a lot to check in. We dumped our bags and headed out, we walked the Main Street in about 10mins and then went to a place back near our guesthouse to book some kayaks for the afternoon. We then headed to the Riverside Restaurang where we met Laura and John an American couple who are staying at the same hotel as us in Nong Khiaw. Had lunch with them, great views, reasonable food but terrible service.
Went back to collect our kayak at 2.30 but decided that we weren’t happy with the kayak’s, a) we wanted our own each and b) the double one they were trying to give us would have fitted two small children, not two large adults!! Cancelled the trip and got our money back and decided to walk / hike instead. Went up go the Phanoy Caves and Viewpoint... two separate large caves, the second and higher of the two was awesome, we must have walked 300m through the cave in the dark before we reached the back of it, no lights, no ropes, it was fabulous and not hard to imagine hundreds of villagers crammed into the caves during the bombings during the Indochina war during the 60’s...
After getting out of the second cave we continued the hike up to the viewpoint, it was absolutely stunning. Made our way down after admiring the view and decided to go have a refreshing drink (it was approaching Happy Hour after all)... we visited a few establishments, can only remember the names of a few! Gecko and The Bee Tree. Decided to eat at Gecko, great food and friendly service but it just took forever, it’s the Laos way apparently...
Went back to our guesthouse around 9.30.
Day 31 - Sunday 25th Jan
Woken up by roosters around 5, got up a 7 for an early breakfast, which was surprising good. Then met our boatman and kayak, we were kayaking from Muang Ngoi. The kayaking trip took about 3.5 hours with no stopping, felt great but very wet when we got back to Nong Khiaw, fantastic scenery on the way and apart from the occasional boat, just us!
Spent the afternoon back at Mandala Eco Lodge relaxing by the pool. Cycled into the village and ate dinner at Q, although I think the food is amazing at our hotel.
Day 32 - Mon 26th Feb
Lovely yoga session in the shala, just me! Where is everyone?? 😀. Nice relaxing breakfast whilst planning the next part of our adventure to Vietnam. We travel back to Luang Prabang today, leaving here around lunchtime and then fly to Hanoi tonight at 5...
Going to relax for a few hours by the pool before we leave, I love it here!
Our boat and guide, waiting for us to give up kayaking but we made it all the way... he just had to put the kayak on his boat and drive all the way back to Muang Ngoi
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