Things To Do In Nong Khiaw – Visit Nong Khiaw – Budget Travel In Laos

Visit Nong Khiaw, Laos to experience a small village on the banks of the River Ou surrounded by stunning mountains. Nong Khiaw has become an increasingly popular tourist destination for travellers seeking to discover unknown pleasures.

With a population of just 3,500 people, Nong Khiaw is located on the Nam Ou river and surrounded by the most beautiful limestone mountains. It is visited by many backpackers on the so-called ‘banana pancake trail’ as it offers many treks including the ‘200 waterfalls’.

How To Get To Nong Khiaw From Luang Prabang

Getting from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw is now relatively easy. Most of the tour operators in Luang Prabang provide buses to Nong Khiaw. We paid 70,000 kip each and the journey took just over 4 hours. Most hotels will be able to arrange transfers.

The Journey From Luang Prabang To Nong Khiaw

The journey from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw was an uncomfortable, bumpy one with just a short toilet break.

Once we reached Nong Khiaw, Joanna was busy chatting to an American couple as she alighted the bus. I was already in awe of the surroundings. There are some places you know you are going to love the second you arrive. For me, Nong Khiaw was one of those places.

Arriving in Nong Khiaw

Most buses will drop you off at the bus station which is situated on the west side of the river. It is here where you will get your first view of those mountains that surround the town. You can take a tuktuk from here to your hotel. We chose to walk. Even though our accommodation was on the east side of the river, it was only a twenty minute walk through the town.

We were walking with the American couple from the bus who were having difficulties with the GPS on their phone. As it turned out, they were staying at the same place as us so we searched together. I knew we were on the other side of the river so we first had to find and cross the Nong Khiaw bridge. During our stay, we crossed this bridge many times. It always took our breath away.

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Things To Do In Nong Khiaw

You will find many tour operators providing various hikes in Nong Khiaw, mountain climbing and other outdoor activities. Prices depend on how many people sign up. We didn’t do any of these. We did, however, do much exploring on our own.

Ban Had Sao

We followed the dirt trail that runs in front of Joy’s Restaurant on the east side of the bridge and it eventually led us to a small riverside community called Ban Had Sao (map). We passed rice paddies and buffalo and there was also the option to visit waterfalls. The children of the village were very excited to see us! Once again, the views made the trip special.

Cycling In Nong Khiaw

We hired bikes from Q Bar and took them east towards Ban Huai Lek (map), though we didn’t quite make it as the hills became too steep. We did make it to the tiny village of Ban Nong Ian (map) and passed both the outdoor swimming pool and the Karst Cave (though we missed the entrance). The views were stunning enough to make it a worthwhile trip.

Nong Khiaw Viewpoint

We had planned to get up early and climb up to the viewpoint to watch the sunrise. As there wasn’t much sun anyway, there didn’t seem to be much point. We decided against the sunset for much the same reason. I am glad we made this decision as I think it would have been VERY hard and a little dangerous to attempt this in the dark, even with a torch.

The trek to the top is steep and takes about one hour. It was a struggle in places, though not as hard as Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. The reward at the top makes it all worthwhile. The views are absolutely incredible. You get a 360 degree viewing point and can look down on Nong Khiaw town itself. We stayed there for about one hour. You simply have to do this in Nong Khiaw. As always when trekking in Laos, don’t wander away from the designated path as the area more than likely still contains many ‘bombies’. (Map).

Nong Khiaw Viewpoint Opening Times: no info available but you can view the sunrise and sunset.
Nong Khiaw Viewpoint Entrance Fee: 20,000 KIP.

Nong Khiaw is simply beautiful. Spend some time wandering around the town on both sides of the bridge and see how people live their everyday lives surrounded by all this beauty.

Food & Drink in Nong Khiaw

There are many restaurants in Nong Khiaw offering traditional Laos and Western food at reasonable prices.

Delilah’s Place

A popular pace amongst backpackers, Delilah’s also provides dorm rooms. You can watch movies in the reception, book trips, play guitar, drink home made sticky-rice whiskey or sit and relax with a slice of their delicious cakes. The banoffee cake was particularly delicious. We visited here three times during our stay. The grilled baguette with cheese, bacon, egg and tomato was fantastic! (Map).

Hive Bar

The Hive Bar Nong Khiaw is a little bit out of town (a twenty minute walk from our guesthouse and along a totally unlit road), There wasn’t much happening when we arrived. In fact, the barman was covered up and asleep when we got there! It seemed a nice place though and the barman was friendly. Only place in Nong Khiaw with a ‘happy menu’.  (Map).

Joy’s Restaurant Nong Khiaw

Located right on the riverside of the Nam Ou, this is a great place for food, or even just a couple of drinks watching the sun set over the bridge. Although it is in a wonderful location, the prices were no more expensive than most other restaurants in the area. I had a chicken panaeng curry which was tasty and packed with various vegetables. Recommended.  (Map).

Noymany Restaurant

This was the first restaurant we visited in Nong Khiaw. We had heard about the long waits for food in some of the restaurants in Nong Khiaw but we were still shocked by it. There were two other people in the restaurant so we thought we might not have to wait that long. How wrong we were! The food took around an hour to arrive. What was annoying was that the drinks arrived with the food, meaning we were sat with nothing for the whole hour. Joanna had vegetables and cashew nuts and I had steamed fish with dill sauce. The food was good but not good enough to wait that long for! Map.

Q Bar

Probably the best bar in Nong Khiaw. They did happy hours on cocktails and it is also known for their Laos hot pots (which were excellent). The staff were very friendly and they played decent music. Q Bar was a great place to chill, eat or have drinks with friends and fellow travellers.  (Map).

Vongmany Restaurant

We visited here a couple of times. The food was freshly cooked and it felt like we were eating in their house: children were playing with toys, waiters playing with phones and they were even trying out their new hoover at one point! The food was traditional Laos and was decent both times. You can try ‘river weed’ here. (Map).

Waterhole

Located on the riverside, just past Joy’s restaurant and Riverside lodgings, is this bar with exceptional views. The problem with this place wasn’t so much the excessive volume of the music they play, but the choice of music. It was so beautiful, located right on the river facing the mountains, and they played Celine Dion REALLY LOUD! If you can cope with this, it’s worth checking out for the surroundings.  (Map).

Is Nong Khiaw Worth Visiting?

We both loved Nong Khiaw and were very sad to leave. We initially came for 2 days before moving on towards Muang Ngoy but then stayed for another 3 days on our way back to Luang Prabang. It’s such a beautiful little town. There might not be loads to do, but you will love just being here. It’s a great place to relax and take some time out from the busy cities (although the cities are not that busy in Laos!) You must include it on any Laos itinerary.