It was 6 in the morning of the day I decided to leave Luang Prabang and I still didn’t know what to do. Anya and Liam left the day before back to their respective countries. Poor Elena was sick but I was looking forward to leave and Casey and the Finnish girls came the day before keeping her company. I had two options: head towards south and leave the country ASAP or continue further north to explore less touristy places, the villages in the north of Laos. What kind of traveler would I be if run away when I don’t like a country instead of exploring it more? Later in Cambodia I would find out that the problem is not the country or the people, the problem is that we always do what other people have already done because we’re afraid of getting really lost or something bad happens to us. So eventually we don’t live our own experiences but a commercialized copy of other people’s experience.
6:30AM, backpack ready, something to have breakfast on the way and 2 hours walking out of the city to hitchhike. Direction: North.
And I couldn’t make a better decision. Roads in the north of Laos are really bad, slow and mountainous, as I already experienced on the way to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. I spent the whole day to reach Nong Khiaw, a small town 150km from Luang Prabang (don’t believe Google, it’s not just 2 hours

- Nong Khiaw from the pier
- Kim and her son
- Nong Khiaw
- Nong Khiaw panorama
- Delicious pancake!
- Nong Khiaw
- Wall of mountains on the way to Muang Ngoy
- Views from Muang Ngoy
- Muang Ngoy’s school
- Sweing shop in Muang Ngoy
- Muang Ngoy
- Man fixing fishing net in Muang Ngoy
- Muang Ngoy
- On the way to Muang Ngoy
- Women taking a bath in the river
- Nong Khiaw
- Kids having a bath in the river in Nong Khiaw
- On the boat to Muang Ngoy
- Squeezing 25 people in a boat for 10 in Muang Ngoy
Next day I left Muang Ngoy and move to a very small village 2 hours away walking, Ban Na (I had to pay 10000 kip for passing through a bridge I didn’t need but the local people wanted to build a new bridge to transport goods and it’s of course logical that we pay it since we’re rich and don’t really need our money that we got working so hard). Moving to this village I also wanted to get rid of Kim. She was very nice normally, but annoying. And honestly I didn’t like her way of treating the people, demanding rather than asking.
- On the way back from Ban Na to Muang Ngoy
- I met in Ban Na this funny Japanese man traveling alone around Laos
- Basic hydro-generator in Ban Na
- Woman carrying trunks in Ban Hoy Bo (other village close to Ban Na)
- Kid on stilts in Ban Hoy Bo (other village close to Ban Na)
- Basic hydro-generator in Ban Hoy Bo (other village close to Ban Na)
- Man carrying bamboo in Ban Hoy Bo (other village close to Ban Na)
- Views from Ban Na
- Views near Ban Na
- Water buffaloes
- Ban Na
- Hunters in Ban Na
- Kids taking a bath and fishing in Ban Na
- School in Ban Na
- Wooden sledge in Ban Na’s school
- In Ban Na’s school
- My shower in Ban Na
- My toilet in Ban Na
- Kids in Ban Na
- Woman working in Ban Na
- Ban Na’s surroundings
- Ban Na’s Surroundings
- Ban Na’s surroundings
And there, in one of the isolated villages in the north of Laos, breaking away from the world for 2 days, on a huge mattress by 10000 kip a day (around 1€), no Internet, electricity only from 6pm to 10pm (and not strong enough to charge my laptop), I could relax and enjoy the moment and the absolute nothingness at Mama Kham’s home.