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My calves were actually aching when I got up this morning which demonstrated my current lack of aerobic endurance. I did manage to sleep well but awoke to the alarm clock signalling we had to catch our bus. The stomach issue had settled but had ruthlessly been replaced with a sore throat, which was typical. After packing our things we said goodbye to the owner after our prolonged stay here to which he smiled and offered us a kitten each.... In jest, I think. My bug had set us back a few days but these things can not be helped!
Our pick up soon arrived and we were crammed on in usual Laos style as we did the rounds to pick up fellow travellers. At the bus station, predictably, we were herded onto other minibuses for which we could only manage the back seats. The journey to Nong Khiaw takes roughly 2.5 hours from Luang Prabang which by Laos standards is fairly short, all is good you would say?
Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a nightmare. The driver was obviously in quite a rush and was taking bends at G force inducing speeds. Additionally, he was not taking into account how fast he was hitting the bumps and potholes. Although up front they felt nothing, at the back we were smashing our heads into the ceiling and losing our stomachs, this was not helped by the lack of seat belts. Luckily the ordeal did not last long as he was driving so fast the distance was covered in no time.
We arrived in Nong Khiaw at around noon and the heat was stifling. It is a small village which was become popular for hill and tribal trekking. Its western and eastern portions are separated by the Nam Ou river and now connected by a large concrete bridge. The village is flanked by beautiful mountains covered head to toe in thick foliage. It does make for some cracking photographs, which has been a feature of Laos generally. We strolled into town and were soon stopped by gentleman calling himself 'Mr Mang'. The name rang a bell and I believed he was a famous tour guide in the area who spoke practically perfect English. He asked us to check out his guesthouse which sat in a quiet area of town, right on the riverfront. The views were striking and the rooms were spacious with free wifi, for which the coverage did surprise us. We managed to get some money off with good haggling skills and we accepted the room. It has a mosquito net which is OK but we we prefer the window meshes as it tends to get hot under the netting. The shower had hot water too but the bed was rather firm if was being critical. Laura later found out this was the guesthouse she found on trip advisor and really liked the look of. I guess it does all work out in the end.
After settling in we had a stroll into town, which had a very rural feel. Children leaving school in the heat of day armed with umbrellas to keep the brutal sun off their heads. Women holding babies in their arms whilst manning there food stalls selling fruit, eggs, noodles etc. Interestingly, there were very few cars to be seen, just motorbikes. The views of the river were amazing with the mountain backdrops and the humming of river boats passing underneath us. We stopped at a bar overlooking the river and enjoyed an ice cold beer Lao which went down far too well.
On returning to the guesthouse, Mr Mang was pushing the hard sell on us for his tours. A nice American chap staying next door told us the tours were very expensive and its much more rewarding to head out yourself. We agreed with him and decided we could catch a boat up river in the next couple of days. The afternoon found me engrossed in my Game of Thrones novel, they are far too addictive unfortunately and much better than the TV show.
Soon enough dusk preceded night and the sound of crickets and insects drowned out the waters of the river gurgling by. This time of night is always humid and is compounded by the constant harassment of bugs. We headed back out into the darkness of town to find food. Most of the tourist orientated joints were over river and by now the local places had closed. We stumbled across an Indian place called 'Deen's' which we had read up on trip advisor with positive reviews. Since India, we have been constantly let down with India food in south east asia and had no reason to think it would be any different. Oh boy were we wrong, the food turned out to be stunning, I guess having low expectations can work out for you. We ordered a chicken rogan josh (extra spicy), butter paneer (a type of cheese although replaced with tofu in Lao?!) masala, two plain naans and rice. The chicken rogan was exceptional with its super thick, spicy sauce. The Nan's were proper Indian style and were large in size, I was even starting to struggle. We left the restaurant with a smile knowing we had finally had good Indian food.
The naan had beaten us I think and we both felt quite bloated and tired. It wasn't long before we collapsed on the bed with the curry hangover.
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