We booked a bus to Nong Khiaw through our guest house in Luang Prabang. We were picked up by minivan and the driver squished in one more person than there were seats. Not to worry though he assured us the bus station was 5 minutes away. At the bus station we moved to another mini van where fortunately they realised they would need 2 minivans. The journey took around 4 hours so a relatively short journey in comparison to our others. It was boiling hot as no AC (needn't have packed that cardigan!) and the only stops were the drivers' personal stops to pick up his shopping! Apart from that it was uneventful.

I had found a guesthouse that we wanted to stay in on the internet and I emailed for availability a few days before but never got a response. With a stroke of luck when we arrived at the bus station, the owner of that very same guesthouse was there trying to get customers. We told him we had emailed him but he just chuckled and said "no have computer!" Most of the people from our minivan ended up staying at the same place. It was pretty chilled, right on the river with a communal area under cover with hammocks and cushions on the floor.

Nong Khiaw is just a small village so not a huge amount going on. It's just a really picturesque place on the river surrounded by mountains. There are a few guesthouses and restaurants around but you know you're not in a touristy area when other tourists you pass on the street greet you with slightly relieved recognition! The villagers were very friendly and always said "sabaidee" (hello) to us.

The first night at the village was a massive concert with a Thai and Lao artist joining forces. Apparently it's a really big deal throughout the whole of Laos and they are only playing a few venues. I found it odd that Nong Khiaw would be one of the venues given that it's such a small place but apparently it's because the artists want to see this area themselves. We decided not to go and to save our money for the boat trip the next day. This turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We could hear the concert from all around the village and it was the same as all Thai cheesey pop music we have heard - awful! It didn't finish until 12.30am either!

The next day we took a boat trip the guesthouse owner, Mang, had organised for us. There was 5 of us that did it which reduced the price of the trip somewhat and made it more fun. The boat (comfiest we've been on since travelling) took us down the river where we saw fishing boats, children playing in the river and buffalo swimming. Our first stop was at a "culture village" which was a little village of bamboo huts. Mang had told us the driver would give us a tour but he just stayed by the boat so we walked around it ourselves. We said sabaidee to the residents and waived at the giggling children. The next stop, our main stop, was Muang Ngoi Neua, a village accessible only by river with no roads where the electricity, which is run by generators, is only on between 6-9 pm.

Mang had told us of a cave we could walk to here and had even drawn us a map but this had been left on the boat which had now disappeared for the afternoon! While we were trying to figure out which way to go, a French couple asked us if they could go back with us in our boat. We didn't see why not and they also wanted to go to the cave so they tagged along with us. However, the French man Carlos, told us since it rained this morning there were certain to be leeches and we were all wearing flip flops and shorts! One of the group had heard that lighters or salt are good at getting rid of leeches so one guy went off to try and buy either just in case. So armed with a lighter, off we went to find the cave which was signposted as 10 minutes away. We walked almost 10 minutes and came across a man sitting in a shelter asking for payment to go to the cave. Here was also a sign saying 10 minutes! Whilst waiting for everyone to make payment guess who got their first leech - me of course! It had latched itself onto the side of my big toe and was all slimey. I was trying so hard not to scream and sound like a massive wimp but I was panicking internally! Bryan got the lighter and held it to my toe (I didn't mind being burned if it got the b***** off me!) and the thing just shrivelled and dropped off. I was amazed it actually worked. This did put everyone on high leech alert as we trekked up to the cave. The French man did not help matters by telling us leech horror stories the whole way.

The so called "10 minutes" was a pretty treacherous and slippery climb up a steep hill with makeshift ladders in some places and not a lot to hold onto in others. It was so humid that we were literally dripping with sweat. As it started to get steeper I realised that getting down was going to be even harder and I wasn't sure I was happy doing it. I stopped to try and get Bryan's attention to tell him I didn't want to go any further but he just shrugged at me. Then I got another bloody leech on my foot! Apparently when you stop they get you. Since I didn't want to risk going back on my own without a lighter I had to carry on up. The whole time we were struggling there was a crazy dog that had tagged along and ran all the way up, including the ladders! We got to the cave soaked with sweat and quite jumpy from the leech attacks. It was pitch black so Bryan and I lit the way with the lights on our phones. It was just a big dark hole, totally not worth it. Someone got out their guide book and we realised we weren't at the main one. Me and another girl, Yasmin, point blank refused to go to the other cave so our partners begrudgingly came back down with us. It was an incredibly difficult and slippery walk down and when I got to the bottom it took me a while to stop shaking. I'm not sure if I was more scared of the leeches or falling over and making my freshly laundered clothes muddy! The french couple let us use the shower in their bungalow and then we spent the rest of the afternoon at a restaurant overlooking the river. The problem with no electricity is that you can't get a cold drink!

That evening, Mang had arranged a BBQ for us in the guesthouse. Initially he said it would be fish but there were 3 of us that don't like fish so we asked him to get chicken for us. He kept asking more and more people to join the BBQ and took money off them too but he didn't buy anymore food. I don't think he knew what he was doing because he cooked the chicken first and then chopped it up and distributed it around all of us which meant there were only 2 or 3 small pieces per person. I assumed there would be more but that was it until the fish. So we paid double the price of a meal at a restaurant down the road and I was still starving by the end of it. At least it was a cool atmosphere and we played card games as a group with some music in the background. A load of the guys wanted to watch the football game which was on at 1:45am (crazy I know) so they took a few beers and went to one of the neighbours' houses to watch it on his tv. The rest of us stayed chatting in the communal area until one by one we disappeared off to bed.

I think two nights was plenty in Nong Khiaw. It is really beautiful but there isn't a lot to do there at all. We had to check out of our room at 11am but the bus that Mang arranged to Luang Namtha was at 6pm so we pretty much just had to hang around until then. At least it gave us a chance to relax in the hammocks looking over the river.