HONEST Thoughts On NONG KHIAW Laos
all right everybody good morning and welcome to the Little River Town of nong khiaw here in Northern Lao we're actually about to head out for a super cheap local breakfast we'll take you along with us but before that I thought I'd give you a hotel tour because this place is really nice I mean I actually wouldn't stay here again but it is really nice so I'm going to show you around I never get paid for any of this if I show you a hotel it's just purely because I feel like it now let's kick it off we've got this balcony area really nice and you can't beat the views I'll show you after when the clouds have like all lifted I just thought I'd show you now because in the morning it's really atmospheric like it it's so quiet you can just see there's local just heading across the river puddling across in the little box everyone goes over there and like tens there Gardens and whatnot but it's so beautiful and there's just crazy Mountain views when the Cloud's clear I'll show you but yeah we've got this area some nice places to sit nice table it's actually really nice we've been eating out here a few nights classic food sticky rice with meat yeah but yeah the balcony is like one of the main reasons why we booked this place and it has been worth it now this place was like 12 pounds which but wow especially it's quite a bit it's very nice but it's quite expensive we've got another boat going past you can just constantly hear the motor boats going past but yeah the room is also as well really nice we've got a huge really comfy bed fan which we don't need because it's so cold there's no mosquitoes but yeah you can just imagine when we wake up especially when you can see the mountains these views honestly it's incredible we've got a nice little lamp that's super nice and nice other than that it's just the basic room it's very special nice painting private bathroom one of the classics where the shower is over the toilet I don't really care about that foreigners always seem to moan but it doesn't really matter whatsoever we've got this strange pillow which is actually really good you know you sit on it it's like it's like a proper Lumbar support it's really good and yeah just a basic room but it's nice now I'll take you downstairs because we can actually head right down to the river from here it's a chilly morning it's like 9am so it is probably below 10 degrees right now which is cold to South East Asia anyway oh [Applause] there's also rooms on the bottom obviously you don't have as good a view there's a Terrace which is again a super nice area to just come and chill out on eat some food have some bit of Lao food and the views we booked this place yeah purely for the views nothing else it gets better though it's going to be a bit muddy down here but you can come for a swim in the river which is really cool we've got this floating platform there's kayaks and it's super cool down here but I love it in the morning because you can see like the Mist floating down the river just above the water and it's peaceful everyone's asleep so until until the boat engines starts it's so nice so nice yeah 12 quid tonight this is what it gets you here in nong khiaw now when we leave on the way to breakfast I'll tell you why I wouldn't stay here again because it is really nice but I'd probably pick a different place yeah so the hotel's beautiful and all that but I would just pick somewhere else I feel like the owner the owner doesn't really seem to care about me not really even spoke to US unless you are doing a tour and spending a lot of money on his tours and there's just like little things that has no hot water no tea and coffee no drinking water and everywhere else has given us that in laos even at like a three pound hotel in Savannakhet we had all that and they were really lovely and welcoming hospitable hosts so I don't know and one more thing so the owner... you gotta love it you got a little bit terrible English lao conversation anyway yeah when we got there obviously we have loads of thai baht so I just asked if we could if he could actually exchange thai baht because most places just do it for you at the best rate because you're staying with them, we're already paying to stay there so I asked him what the rate was offered us the absolute a ridiculous rate absurd right we're gonna lose so much money I was like no way we'll just go down the road and change it somewhere else who's going to offer us the best rate and then as I walked off the rate went up a little bit I was like no it's still nothing like the actual rate and then the next day came back saying we'll do the full rate just a bit dishonest I don't really like it we are a guest don't try milk because we're already paying to stay there and it's fairly expensive room it is what it is I'm not gonna moan anymore but you can see just how rustic nong khiaw is that's it [ __ ] roosters that's all you can hear Rooster's got all the animals and I will head around here to a little breakfast spot right we have come to the most local khao soi spot in town she does it just right it's 15 000 kip for a bowl that's a big bowl of Lao khao soi yeah what's interesting is there's these thick rice noodles in here really thick and then a lot of veg so she just like essentially like steams all this veg is it Pak choy I don't know but it's really good it's really delicious the broth's really good and fifteen thousand kip that's like the cheapest price in town for sure really good actually that's like a proper flavor oh that puppy he's gone is he underneath us he's underneath us here tiny little puppy yeah it's really good 15 000 okay yeah it's like a big portion as well look at the color of the broth where's my little chili gone also got the chili and the shrimp paste and it's so busy this spot just people in and out just constantly full until she sells out every day I actually ate half food before I turn the camera on so it was just so busy honestly it was like shoulder to shoulder in here but you can see just how much vegetables which is unlike any we've had before there's like cabbage in there as well the noodles they're really thick go ahead it's completely unique um it's really good so the clouds lifting up over the mountains just the proper little local spot it's the most popular place in town [Music] have you found the puppy oh God there he is the puppy thank you yeah that is the best noodle shop in town he's a butcher really ah the butcher it looks like mobile Butchery get your meat on the go yeah it's like the busiest spot in town in the morning right there and you can see in the morning this town's like super atmospheric with these clouds which are pretty much right down in the valley at the minute that is the probably the cheapest bowl of noodles and we found it all loud 15 000 Kip big ball you can see what everyone's in there and it's actually a really good bowl of noodles as well it's really filling I know chili paste is really good as well I mean a lot of chilli paste so it's a little bit different it's really good though it's got like the crispy garlic in oh yeah it's last like the spot to be in the morning in nong khiaw proper local spot every time I go in there everyone's like taking the piss out of us was like the only foreigners in the shop somebody what is she doing what's it what are you doing you are cut you are making dips no no they're preparing for later this is a street girl we come to over there a really nice people looks like they're preparing the food for later oh this is the butcher going past now on his bike this is one of The Butchers somebody it's sold out this is funny this is your daily dose of Lao misspells fruit slad love it they never fail to amuse me now this is my very last morning I promise maybe the um the people are hotel we ask is there a bus to oudomxay they wouldn't tell us they were like well they did they said yeah you can book one through our tour agency we will go to Pak mong and then to oudomxay which is pointless because we've just gone to the bus there we bought a ticket for super cheap local bus to oudomxay it's like a direct bus oh the sun ,it's like you ask someone for bus information here they just send you on a bloody wild goose chase but yeah if you just always go to the bus station you're always going to be able to get wherever you're going just go and ask them direct don't there's no point even asking anyone else hello mate you all right the body there's like a fruit vendor here just before the bridge as well look at these mangoes the body tamarind all your fruit if you want to get your fruit I bet the mangoes are good in all honesty what is she making a good game all of this by hand really is that what she's doing hello this is our favorite little spot this lady's amazing we're coming over there and we get like coffees or green tea who's getting a green tea today and a kid's so cute couple loves to play one of the nicest kids in town what's this one Hello Kitty [Music] come here tonight that is so loud we're gonna be able to hear that on the other side of town now I'm just going to talk about something that nobody seems to really mention but it's something that bothers me you can really tell that nong khiaw has been hammered with tourism as of recently you can definitely tell because the whole vibe of a town when it gets this touristy completely changes just look all these chicks here hello everyone yeah it just completely changes the town because half the people here are lovely I'm not gonna lie really nice laughing people but then half the people they are not nice whatsoever you can tell they feel like resentment to you as a tourist how you say hello really friendly and you'll just get [ __ ] high or or just people wanting anything to do here I can laugh at you and you just get a really nasty vibe half the kids are really nice like the ladies kid in that coffee shop super friendly you know just just genuine good Lao kids but then some just come and ask you for money hold the hands out ask for a dollar then it's not great definitely not great it's not good I just don't like it but this is what I this Mass tourism does the places and places like this are just gonna change and then one that I don't know it just oh it's a tough one to talk about in it I think all I'm trying to say is that tourism can sometimes completely ruin a place and that's a lot of the time why we go to places that don't really get any tourists because there we have a much more genuine experience like more genuine interactions with the local people you know nothing's about money though it's just about just having a good time meeting people and just just having a good time together some places it's just all about money and I don't like that this really throws the vibe off like for example to get here to get to nong khiaw we came from luang prabang and we just got absolutely swindled if anyone speaks English to your fluent English just avoid them like the plague because they're just going to do you usually so this guy we said yeah we take us to the bus station I thought the bus station well he even told us the bus station was 15 minutes out of town and then on the day we spoke to the day before and arranged and then the next morning he says all in all the price has gone up petrol's gone up I'm like listen man I wasn't born yesterday I'm not paying that and then magically the price went back down again still ripping us off and then I only brought us to a bus station that was just five minutes down the road that I could have walked to I said you said it was the other bus station and yeah we just got light too done over just ripped off and it's just it really puts a negative spin on the place for me I don't like it and it doesn't happen to us anywhere because we go to places that aren't touristy but then we come somewhere like this and just this [ __ ] happens and it just pisses me off and that's my run over you could tell this place definitely has been battered by tourism I wish more people would talk about it the sun's going down it's the best time of the day we're heading out into town can hear the tunes Blasting there's loads of parties going on tonight past the party boat it literally just sails down the river blasting crazy Tunes we're heading into town because I just want to show you how I like pure and raw this town is just how life in Northern lao is it's crazy it's like we've just gone back 50 years it's ridiculous oh this guy's bringing his guts on hopefully we can see some really cool scenes really how are you guys the second is go upstairs this guy owns the grill our favourite Grill in town he just grilled meat in like this classic typical Lao food which you might actually grab some off after we'll definitely get some good Lyle food some like a snacky bits and yeah I hope you can just see in the background how beautiful the town is we'll just go for a walk that's pretty much the plan [Laughter] here he is bringing the guards back we come to eat at your your grill okay okay we come to eat but we go for a walk home home okay your goats have names they don't have names yeah let's just head into town oh no there's a proper little [ __ ] fight yeah that car guy is the biggest [ __ ] I've ever seen they've got the full karaoke party going on in here [Music] is that what that was in this town I mean in Asia it's just a karaoke Fest everywhere isn't it it's so funny yeah just thought I could show how beautiful this town is because it is it's amazing to refer it's absolutely stunning little setting for a town the people are 50 50 some people are absolutely lovely and then some just can't stand you being here which is a bit bit of a downer but hello here we have some lovely people so hello how are you some of the kids are absolutely lovely that's one of the best things about Laos just the kids they're like it's so full of energy and so um it's so funny they're hilarious because they're like how kids used to be in the west probably like 50 years ago you just do whatever they want it's classic like I'm not being funny but just look at the state of this town it's mental [Music] bye [Music] kids honestly when you get the nice kids it's just so heartwarming it's like here the kids do what kids should be doing that's all they do oh there's just animals everywhere look at this little Geezer get out the bin bags mate so bye dude yeah the kids are doing what kids should be doing they're just constantly playing out they're not on the phone so any of that rubbish they're just doing stuff proper life this some of the houses were super beautiful because people have like really nice wooden houses painted nice colors there's a big Street party still going on it seems it looks like it's died down everyone has these big wooden houses out of the building I don't know what they're for so if you know what let us know I'll look down there some of the houses so nice some more chickens [Music] is I need honey for all love yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] what they're not wow it's a proper party down here I think that's the spicy chili woood they put in that Buffalo shoe dish we had in luang prabang [Music] looks like everyone's it looks like the beer laos have been flowing [Music] hello [Music] now I've got to show you this seriously can you see the Viewpoint at the very top of there that's like the most popular one that everybody climbs and then on this side I'll try and get the sun off the camera that Peak you can see all the way over there you probably can't even see the Viewpoint it's that high up is where we climb and now there is a reason no one does that because it's flipping hard but that's the best hike in town that's what you should be doing forget the little one go for the proper on the Big Daddy I mean i can't get over these views to be honest especially at sunset it's absolutely ridiculous this time for scenery wise you can see everyone's out on these sunset cruises party boats down there and we love the Lao party but yeah ridiculous honestly these mountains jungle mountains are crazy stunning it's actually not oh that's the one when we were walking up there's one pretty much the start of the Walk that's the forget that as well get to the top get yourself to the top [Applause] to finish the day we just got a little bit of food we've got some nice grilled pork crispy grilled pork fatty pork a big mountain of sticky rice we've got this dip which is like it does look a bit suspicious doesn't it does look a bit like a poo but it's like a vegetable gel they said like smoked vegetable juice is really good really rich and deep really good we've got some more of these lime miscellaneous loud lettuce and cabbage rolls which we still don't know what's in them but we're really a lot yeah that's a nice little tea with a view I've never got much better than that honestly this is really good it's really earthy little super with a fatty pork oh and the quintessential blr
2023-02-09 23:35
