Backpacking Nong Khiaw
Nong Khiaw is one street, one bridge and a river, with limestone peaks going straight up on both sides of it. Three hours north of Luang Prabang, about a thousand people, and one of the cheapest stops in Laos at €16 a day.
There is nothing to do here except climb things and look at things, which is exactly why people come. Three viewpoints above the village, each a steep hour or so up, each ending on a ridge with the Nam Ou winding out below and, on a good morning, cloud filling the valley so you are standing on top of it.
Beyond that: boats upriver to villages the road has only just reached, a waterfall you climb up through, and multi-day treks to Hmong and Khmu villages where you sleep on the floor. Two days is the plan, three if you go up the river.
Why Nong Khiaw is popular with backpackers
- Viewpoints where you genuinely stand above the cloud
- €16 a day, one of the cheapest stops on this whole route
- Boats up the Nam Ou to villages that had no road until recently
- Multi-day treks with homestays in mountain villages
- Kayaking on a river with limestone towers on both banks
- Almost nobody here, even in high season
Best time to visit Nong Khiaw
The village sits wedged in between steep limestone along the Nam Ou, so it is cooler than the rest of Laos, and the morning mist over the water is the whole trademark.
The view is the entire reason to be here, so check the forecast. In the burning season, which can start in March and often lasts into May, what you get from the top is mostly grey, and the climb is exactly as steep either way.
Backpacker budget: around €16 a day
- €5hostel bed
- €2local meal
- €1beer
- €2boat across the river
Guide prices from our own days in Nong Khiaw. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best hostels in Nong Khiaw
Small village, so this is guesthouses rather than hostels. Every one of them is on the river and the difference is which bank and how good the balcony is.
Nong Kiau Riverside
Bungalows facing the water with the limestone right across from you, and the best balconies in the village. A step up in comfort for still very little money.
Nam Ou View Villa
Near the river with mountain views from most rooms, quiet, and consistently well reviewed across nearly nine hundred stays. Good middle option and a short walk from the bridge.
Arthith Guesthouse
The budget pick: central, simple, relaxed, and the closest thing the village has to a backpacker hub. Walking distance to the restaurants and to the start of both climbs.
Best things to do in Nong Khiaw
Pha Daeng Peak, the main viewpoint
An hour and a half of steep, loose, unrelenting climbing to a ridge at eleven hundred metres, with the whole bend of the Nam Ou below you and limestone peaks in every direction. Everybody who does it says the same thing about the last twenty minutes, and everybody says it was worth it.
Sleeping on the ridge
The version where you do not walk back down. You climb up in the afternoon, sleep in a tent on the ridge, and wake up with the valley filled with cloud underneath you and the peaks coming out of it. Two hundred and sixteen reviews and a 4.5, and it is the single best night in northern Laos.
Two days trekking to a Hmong village
Into the hills on foot with a local guide, a night in a village homestay, and a kayak back down the Nam Ou on day two. This is the part of Laos that has no road to it, and you do not get there any other way.
Up the river to Muang Ngoi
An hour upstream by longtail to a village that only got a road a few years ago and still mostly ignores it. No cars, one street, hammocks, and caves in the cliffs where whole villages sheltered during the bombing in the sixties and seventies.
The 100 Waterfalls trek
Half a day climbing up through a waterfall: not next to it, up it, scrambling over wet limestone from pool to pool with a guide and a rope in the tricky bits. You get soaked, you will fall over at least once, and it is the most fun anyone has in this village.
Kayaking on the Nam Ou
A calm half day paddling between the limestone towers, past fishermen, water buffalo and villages with nothing on the bank but a boat. No rapids, no skill required, and the best way to see the valley from the bottom after a week of looking at it from the top.
Best area for backpackers
Along the Nam Ou
There is one road and a bridge over the river, and everything is on it. The east bank is where most of the guesthouses, restaurants and tour desks are, and where the path up to the viewpoint starts.
The west bank is quieter, a few minutes further from dinner, and has the better view back at the peaks. Either way you are walking everywhere, because the village takes ten minutes to cross.
Good to know about this area
- Everything is within ten minutes on foot
- Guesthouses on the river, most with a balcony over the water
- Both viewpoint paths start from the village itself
- The boat pier for Muang Ngoi is by the bridge
- No supermarket, and the ATM cannot be relied on
- Phone signal is patchy and stops entirely outside the village
How to plan your days in Nong Khiaw
Two days is enough, three if you also go up the river. Pick how long you have.
Up a mountain. Pha Daeng Peak is a hard hour and a half, and the top looks over the whole bend of the Nam Ou. Start early, when the cloud is still sitting in the valley.
Tonight: eat on a terrace above the river, with the peaks going black behind it.
Onto the river. Take a longtail up to Muang Ngoi, a village that only recently got a road. On the way you pass caves where entire villages sheltered during the war.
Tonight: back in Nong Khiaw, or stay over in Muang Ngoi.
100 Waterfalls, or a kayak. The 100 Waterfalls trek goes up through the waterfall itself, half a day of scrambling in the water. Quieter option: a paddle down the Nam Ou.
Tonight: bus back to Luang Prabang, or on to Oudomxay.
Food and drink in Nong Khiaw
A handful of places along the road and by the bridge, all doing simple Lao food, and better baguettes than a village this size has any right to.
There is no supermarket and the one ATM is unreliable. Bring cash from Luang Prabang, enough for your beds, your guides and the bus out.
Getting there and onward
Nong Khiaw is at the end of a mountain road, three hours north of Luang Prabang. Beyond it you go by boat or over roads that are not really roads.
Getting there. The minibus from Luang Prabang takes about three hours. The road twists but it is paved, and the scenery on the way is worth the ticket on its own.
Around here. One street, one bridge. Everything is on foot, and for the river you take a longtail from the pier.
Onward. Muang Ngoi is an hour upstream. Heading for Vietnam, you go via Oudomxay and Dien Bien Phu, and that is two long days.
- MinibusLuang Prabang 3 hrs · Oudomxay 3 hrs
- LongtailMuang Ngoi, 1 hr upstream
- TrekkingPha Daeng Peak, 1.5 hrs up
- KayakOn the Nam Ou, half a day
- On footThe village takes ten minutes end to end
Staying safe in Nong Khiaw
Safe and very quiet. What needs care here is the climb, and one thing that is specific to this part of Laos.
- Wear shoes with grip. The paths to the peaks are steep and loose
- Start the climb early. By midday it is too hot to enjoy
- Bring enough cash. The one ATM in the village is not dependable
- Stay on marked paths when you are trekking, without exception
- Wander off the path in the back country. There is still unexploded ordnance in this region
- Come down from a viewpoint in the dark without a torch
- Take a multi-day trek to the villages without a guide
- Count on phone signal outside the village. There is none
Laos is the most heavily bombed country per head in history, and the north and east still have unexploded ordnance in the ground. On a marked path you are fine. Off one, you are not, and this is the one rule here that is not negotiable.
Rebels on the Road tip
Do not walk back down. Book the night on the ridge instead: you carry a small bag up in the afternoon, eat dinner watching the light go off the peaks, and wake at five to a valley that has filled completely with cloud while you slept, with the tops of the mountains sticking out of it. Everyone else is doing that climb in the dark at four in the morning to try to catch the same thing. You are already up there.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Nong Khiaw?
Two to three. One for the viewpoint, one for the river or the waterfalls, and a third if you do a two-day trek or sleep up on the ridge.
Is Nong Khiaw worth the detour?
Yes, and it is the stop people most often say they wish they had given another night. It is three hours off the main route north of Luang Prabang, it costs €16 a day, and it is the most beautiful place in Laos that nobody has heard of.
How hard is the climb to the viewpoint?
Hard. An hour and a half of steep, loose path with no shade, and it beats up most people who thought they were fit. Take water, start early, and wear proper shoes.
Is there an ATM in Nong Khiaw?
There is one and it is not reliable. Bring cash from Luang Prabang for your beds, your food, your guides and the bus out.
Nong Khiaw or Muang Ngoi?
Nong Khiaw has the viewpoints, the treks and the transport. Muang Ngoi, an hour upstream, has no cars and almost nothing to do, which is its entire appeal. If you have three days, do both: they are an hour and five euros apart.
When is the best time to visit Nong Khiaw?
October to March, and the earlier in that window the better for cloud in the valley. The burning season can start in March, and in April and May the smoke often fills the whole view with haze.
