Nong Khiaw Laos

The drive from Luang Prabang north to Nong Khiaw was stacked full of beautiful scenery.

The woman sitting next to me kept falling asleep and resting her head on my arm so I gave her my neck pillow thinking that would help her out, but she put the pillow on my shoulder and went back to sleep. Not a lot accomplished there.


The rich green rice fields always add to the scenery.

Heading over the bridge to look for a room.

Looking up the valley from the bridge.

I'm impressed he actually stayed on his "raft"

Definitely a mountain person.

Our room for $2 each. The bamboo walls are as good as paper when the Italians and Spaniards next door decide to get wasted on Lao Lao (local whiskey). Apparently they didn't understand "Silencio por favor".

The view from our balcony.

Never trust a cat with half black half white whiskers.

Showoff.

Local boys throwing fishing nets on the Nam Ou river.

Nice place to relax.

We headed to the river for a swim and ran into this wiley bunch. They thought they were pretty cool in our shades.

Once I started they wouldn't let me stop. I think I almost puked twice.

I keep asking myself why I deserve this...and then I realize I don't.

Morning fog burning off.

Hunter I and rented bikes again and headed for some caves.

The Pha Toke Caves were used by the Pathet Lao during the bombing campaign of the US during the "secret war". This particular cave was a 'safe' area for soldiers and villagers, and was also used a hospital during the conflict.

This is where the police headquarters were.

The bank.

They brought in all the dirt to make a flat floor.

It is really nice to not see caution signs all over the place. I feel like they expect people to actually use their brains, or they are just a third world country and don't care.

These little bungalows are used by the farmers.

The limestone makes for some cool looking formations.

It is weird smiling for a camera you can't see in the pitch black.

Heading back to our bikes.

We ran into this Canadian on the road who has toured Canada, New Zealand, and SE Asia in the last 18 months. We actually kept running into as we moved down the road.

Water Buffalo are all over the place out here.

We decided to hitch a ride out of town instead of waiting until evening for the bus. We nearly got T-boned while our driver was cutting a corner and then skidded the back of the truck off the road. We were happy to get out alive 45 minutes later.

This was the last picture my camera took before completely breaking.