Day 155 - Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw

Going rural in Laos

<Note: Internet connection is really bad in current location, so images are struggling to upload>

We checked out of Downtown Backpackers Hostel 2, after breakfast and boarded a shared taxi. The taxi spent an hour picking up people and at 9:30am, we arrived at Luang Prabang’s North Bus Stand. We had purchased our tickets from the hostel for 70,000 LAK / $11.45 AUD per person, which included pick up from the hostel. If you can get to the Bus Stand for a decent price, you can buy the tickets directly for 40,000 LAK / $6.54 AUD.

The mini bus was full of passengers and all the luggage was stored on the roof. The ride took around 4 hours on what was relatively straight and flat road. The views closer to Nong Khiaw were really nice as we were driving parallel to the Nam Ou River.

The town of Nong Khiaw was cool and very rural. The town is divided by the river and surrounded by massive mountains. This was the first time we went somewhere without a booking. We were really nervous about this, but we just walked to a few recommended guest houses and settled for Pho Sai Riverside Guesthouse, due to the nice views of the River.