Editor Pick
A Short Walk In and Around Muang Ngoi
- June 26, 2005
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Hun Ohm from small town, Massachusetts
A Short Walk in and around Muang Ngoi
By Hun Ohm
Ninety-seven cents will get you accommodations with walls so thin you will hear the zip of your neighbor’s backpack, snores in surround-sound, or the crackle of candy wrappers throughout the night. Take a room adjacent to a chicken pen and later wonder why the cocks crow at any hour for no known reason. If you find yourself in this situation, you might be in tiny Muang Ngoi, and if so, be sure to take time to walk around.
Get Your Bearings
Muang Ngoi saunters by at yesteryear’s pace with an ease and gentleness that is infectious. A stroll through the main street of the village will confirm a certain lack of paved roads, or cars for that matter--boat, bicycle, and feet seem to be the only modes of transportation. Listen, and you will hear the occasional laughter of locals conversing as rice dries on mats in the street or the voice of a girl reading aloud while her younger brother watches, mesmerized. Your fellow street wanderers will be many and varied: chicken and chicks, strangely shaped ducks, occasional puppy dogs. Note the harvested bomb casings now serving as steps and plant holders.
Get Going
Once you have explored the few dusty streets, head out of town, away from the Nam Ou. Pass the schoolyard, and soon you will find yourself surrounded by thick greenery as you walk along a brook in the forest. Continue on until you reach a small cave that has a stream running through its mouth. Feel free to wade in, though you should have a torch to keep things visible. We only waded in to our thighs, but the more adventurous may explore further.
Get to ______?
Leave the cave and continue along the path. The trees will give way to vast paddies (yellow and dry when we were there) that are flanked by limestone karsts. Water buffalo may be hanging around, eyeing you with obvious boredom. The path will zigzag across the paddies, whimsically at times, but don’t despair. You will eventually come to a few posts with yellow signs pointing directions. Head left, and you should see the thatched roofs of a village. Wander through the main street and hear the whisk whisk of a man shaving bamboo with a machete, or peek into the local school. Watch the children chase tiny birds that have escaped their cage. Listen to the adults tell tales of how an American warplane reputedly went down nearby decades ago. Before leaving, have a lukewarm but refreshing drink on the platform of the small "restaurant" near the entrance of the village.
Continue further to other villages if your stamina remains, or head back (as we did) to Muang Ngoi the same way you arrived. Cool off with a shower or a dip in the Nam Ou. Jot down your notes and swap tales with others as the sun sets. Repeat again tomorrow if so inclined.
From journal The Notorious Route 7 in Laos, and Other Tales