Laos - Nong Khiaw – Things to Do
Nong Khiaw, a small
town 3.5 hours from Luang Prabang.
How to go to Nong
Khiaw: From Luang Prabang, go to Northen Bus Station and take minivan to Nong
Khiaw.
Northen bus station.
Generally, the minivan is quite comfortable, free seating and not so crowded since big size luggage would be placed on top of the van.
Tips:
1 Ticket is based on
first come first serve basis, so it is better to be there earlier to buy the
ticket.
2 Since the journey
needs few hours, bring along water and some snack in the van.
Upon arrival at Nong
Khiaw bus station, tuk tuk service is available there so not need to worry
about how to get to you hotel. If not, you can always choose to walk since it
is a small town :)
Tips:
1 There are quite a
number of budget guest house here, you can get a whole unit by yourself in less
than RM60!
2 The internet plan we
signed up at Luang Prabang Airport, Beeline cannot work well at Nong Khiaw, no
signal at all -.- Good thing is free Wifi is quite a common thing here, you can
stay connected using free Wifi at restaurant and guest house’s common area :)
We spent 3days 2nights
here and don’t be surprised to find out that there are a lot exciting things to
do here!
No.1 Hike up to Phadeng
Peak!
A hike around 1.5hrs
which brought us to 360° panorama view of Nong Khiaw, Nam Ou River and Muang
Ngoi River! The view was fantastic and totally worth the sweat and mosquito
bites we got that morning!
Follow the signage to
get to the ticket counter. Paid 20,000 kip entrance fee for each person and the
uncle gave each of us a stick as hiking stick and brought us to the small
yellow gate which is the starting point of the trail.
We were told that we
were the first 2 hikers that day, although we were there around 10am. We think
that’s the reason why we gained so much mosquito bites >.< first meal of
the day for them LOL. Please don’t forget to bring along mosquito repellent!
The trail up is
well-maintained and it was muddy all the way up due to rain on the day before.
The trail changed from muddy to rocky when we were approaching the peak.
A small hut was built
on the peak and here’s the best place to have your breakfast! 360° view of
mountains, rivers and villages!
Entrance fee: 20,000
kips per person.
No. 2 Herbal steam
bath at Sabai Sabai
Haha, we had an
ultimate herbal steam bath after half day workup at Phadeng peak! This is a
very traditional way of doing steam bath. Herbs (we smell lemongrass, others
are not so sure LOL) is boiled in a closed pot behind the steam room, a bamboo
rod was used to transfer all steam generated from the pot into the steam room.
The feeling was good, felt like immersed in a lemongrass mist LOL.
The steam bath
treatment is so affordable that we believed the same treatment would cost
easily triple or even more in Malaysia.
Steam bath cost:
25,000 kips per person (free-flow of ginger tea is provided).
No. 3 Loiter around
the peaceful town and take lots of photos
Everywhere here is so
photogenic! View of mountains and rivers never failed to surprise us! They
looked different but yet attractive everytime when we looked at them! Sometimes
covered in clouds, sometimes shine under the sun… Those that came from city
might feel exciting to see animals like squirrel and chicken walking on the
road LOL.
No. 4 Kayak
Think of viewing Nong Khiaw village from
different angle? Kayak is the best choice to get closer to the river and enjoy
the sunset :)
No. 5 Join hiking or
caving tour
Tour service for
hiking, caving and even cycling is available here in Nong Khiaw. Think of exploring
Nong Khiaw or even surrounding village in a more extreme way but need guidance?
There are few tour agencies here ready to serve you, small tour (minimum 2 pax
to go) is available too!
Nong Khiaw is a lovely town, we fall in love with this place after a short stay. It is quite sad to know that river access from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw was blocked and stopped service due to water dam construction at Nam Ou river. Previously, people can take a boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw, according to locals, the view is fantastic. Now, Nong Khiaw is only accessible from Luang Prabang via road.
All the best for Nong Khiaw, hope to come back here again :)
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