Arriving at Muang Neu Noi

VIENTIANE: So while I've got some time and a reasonably cheap internet connection I should probably try and recount some of my experiences upriver in Muang Neua Noi. The town, a former fishing village, was hurt badly when many of the villagers moved downstream upon completion of a new bridge. They figured that the increased trade would boost their bank balances. What they didn't figure on was the huge boost that tourism would eventually deliver. Now the town, still a one street job, is wall-to-wall with guesthouses, ad hoc tour guides and restaurants. However tourism is still largely in its infancy and the town maintains what must have always been its charm.

Set on a riverbank it takes a four hour sangtaew ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw, where you change to a long boat for an hour long journey up the river. Perhaps my journey was somewhat fated as I ran into Lauren, one of the Australian girls I had last seen at the Kunming train station, by the boat ramp. The cruise up river was interrupted somewhat when we all had to get out and tramp through the jungle for about fifteen minutes. The dry season meant the river banks were particularly low.

Arriving at the town I managed to fluke one of the three cheapest rooms in town, a bamboo bungalow with a hammock and a balcony overlooking the river. Outdoor cold water showers, squat toilet, two faulty lights and four hours of electricity a day. But then the Hilton never knew such views... The first afternoon I meandered down to the river for my first river swim since I left Australian and ran into Nadine, a Swiss veteran of the Laos disco/houseparty night in Luang Prabang. Whoever knew that making friends would be so easy? And that was more or less the scene for the entire week, a small group of like minded tourists in a very small place made it an incredible place to meet people and make friends.