Nong Khiaw - Laos

This post is long over due, but I definitely wanted to share about Nong Khiaw. A few friends and I went back in January and had a great time. The small town is drop dead gorgeous maybe even definitely more beautiful than Luang Prabang. I mean this is essentially the view no matter which way you look.

Nong Khiaw is about a 5 hour bus ride north of LP and is easily seen in a weekend. The town is surrounded by mountains with the Nam Ou river running through the center. Speaking of the river Nong Khiaw is also famous for its delicious river-weed (basically seaweed). Now I am not usually a fan of seaweed or anything of the sort but the river-weed was actually pretty tasty.

But river-weed isn't the only thing you will find in this little city. If you like hiking, waterfall climbing, and cave seeing then Nong Khiaw is the place for you. We did two hikes while we were there; the first was the 100 Waterfalls. This hike is without a doubt the coolest hike i've ever been on. You quite literally hike up a 100 small waterfalls.

Some of the views on the way to and from the hike

The second hike we did begins in the center of Nong Khiaw and goes up to a look out over the town. As recommended to us we did this hike later in the evening just before sunset. I admit the hike was a bit steep and after a long day of hiking up waterfalls I wasn't really in the mood to hike again but it was totally worth it.  And if you ever find yourself in Nong Khiaw this hike is a must do. Make sure to plan ahead so you can make it to the top by sunrise or sunset.

The one problem with going to watch the sunset is hiking down in the dark. So bring a flashlight, and don't worry to much it's perfectly safe out there...