33. North to Nong Khiaw

There used to be a slow boat from Luang Prabang up the Mekong then the Nam Ou to Nong Khiaw. It would take 7 hours past beautiful scenery.... But now the Chinese are building a dam and there are only buses. That is the story of so many of the boats.... They can't compete with the buses once a road has been built, and more and more dams are also being built by the Chinese.  The Laos government wants to sell some of the power to Thailand to get much needed foreign currency..... But at what environmental cost? Are how much do the Laos people benefit? The bus took 4 hours, with a stop...

This is Nong Khiaw... Stunning.....

The bridge was built in 1973, after the war... My hotel was one the other bank just behind the bridge.

And looking downriver.... It is limestone karst scenery again, as much of it is in this region of south East Asia... so beautiful. 

The view from my hammock....

And my bedroom... With mossie net. I didn't need it tho...

On the bus I met a Canadian guy from Nova Scotia. We met up with a French lady and we all cycled to some nearby caves where the Pathet Lao and local villagers hid during the Secret War..... The locals were having a party!

I was going to go tubing down the river that afternoon with Veronique but she had an accident and fell off her bike. She went over the handlebars and hit her head quite badly and was drifting in and out of consciousness... She was taken to the hospital in Nong Khiaw. The doctor was lovely but said she may have brain damage and may have to be flown to Bangkok for treatment. She needed to be transferred to Luang Prabang immediately.... So 45 minutes later when we had paid the required amount for the ambulance and the treatment that she had received in the hospital, she was taken away.... 600,000 kip for the ambulance, 290,000 kip for treatment, service, stitches, bandages, plasters, amoxicillin, paracetamol..... Total a bit over £110.... and what a hospital..... Very basic pretty much no facilities, but the people were lovely. And no sense of urgency......

Post Script.... When I arrived back in Luang Prabang I went back to the same guesthouse where I had been staying and where I had left my big bag which I hadn't taken with me up the river to Nong Khiaw. With the help of the guest house proprietor I phoned Luang Prabang hospital to find out about Veronique. They said she was there! So I spoke to her and then went to visit her.... She was fine although still had double vision..... And was to be discharged the following day to a local guesthouse where they could still keep an eye on her, and then was due to fly home a few days later. All well that ends well! I filled her in on what had happened as she remembered nothing.... Then I went to one of the many local restaurants to buy her some food. The had been looking after her well but everyday they brought her the same food and she wanted some noodles not rice! The hospital don't provide food it is all just brought in. It is less basic than in Nong Khiaw but still they didn't have much equipment, but she said she had been well looked after. 

So my plans of what to do on my last night in LP didn't happen, but at least she was ok.... And I was ready to move on the next day, south to Vang Vieng.