Laos - Nong Khiaw

The five hour bus journey to Nong Khiaw wasn't the horror we'd expected, (roads in Laos used to be amongst the worse you'd ever see), as most of the major roads are undergoing renovation on a large scale. Our driver did however have to stop in a small town to replace the oil filter. On the whole though the journey was actually really good fun. We got to see some great scenery as we jolted and rocked our way to Nong Khiaw.
Nong Khiaw is an odd place. It used to be seperated from it's sister settlement Muang Ngoi by the Nam Ou river until the Chinese kindly built a bridge to link the two. Now the Eastern side, (Muang Ngoi), is the kind of resort side while Khiaw is the business side as it has the dock. The town had clearly only recently acquired electricity as all the switches and junction boxes in the place were brand new gleaming white and didn't have a speck of dust on 'em. The place was also full of kids starring goggle-eyed at the telly all day long. I guess it's still a novelty for them but I don't hold out much hope for the next generation.
After the cosmopolitan style of Luang Prabang it was good to see how a small town operates and how they're dealing with the sudden interest from tourists. Guesthouses are springing up everywhere and I doubt it'll be long before they're closely followed by internet cafes and massage parlours.
The view from the bridge along the Nam Ou river was breath taking and it was blissfully easy to stand and gaze at the locals talking on the riverbanks, swimming in the water and doing the laundry whilst the rickety wooden boats shipped anything from pigs and charcoal to tourists up and down the river. This was precisely what we were to do the next day as we were taking an hour's trip upstream to Muang Ngoi Nuea.