Why We Didn’t Like Travelling in Muang Ngoi, Laos

We’re determined to show you the good, the bad and the downright ugly of travel (that last one mostly involves food poisoning). The truth is that unlike many travellers, we didn’t like travelling in Muang Ngoi in Northern Laos. And we are happy to tell you why. 

On paper, Muang Ngoi sounded like a heavenly retreat.

Billed as Laos' landlocked version of the infamous Maya Bay in Thailand (the one that featured in the film The Beach), Muang Ngoi (also sometimes known as Muang Ngoy or Muang Ngoy Neua) has a reputation for being a place where you can get away from it all, at the very end of the well-trodden Banana Pancake Trail.

Every blog and guide that we read lauded this sleepy little village set along the banks of the Nam Ou river, with barely working electricity and unreliable wifi. 

A place only accessible by river, with rustic bungalows and hammocks from which you could view the stunning mountain scenery and simply...relax.

A place where you were unlikely to meet other tourists and much more likely to be able to hang out, get to know local people and experience ‘the real Laos’.

Tip: I’ve now learned that when someone promises that you will experience the ‘real’ anything of a country, there is a high chance they are chatting BS. 

If you are reading this thinking, “what on earth can you hate about this place?” then I totally understand. It sounds positively idyllic, authentic, and a bit of an adventure.

In reality, Muang Ngoi sucked. Big time.

Our expectations for the place just didn't live up to reality. We spent all of our time there wishing that we weren’t there (particularly our damp, depressing and bug-ridden hotel room). And feeling pretty dejected and frustrated about it.

And yes, whilst we could just quietly admit to ourselves that this was a minor blip, as responsible bloggers we think it’s important to be honest about places that we visit.

After all, travel isn’t all sunshine, unicorns and rainbows - sometimes things go wrong. And keeping it real is what this blog is all about.  

Read on to find out why we wouldn't include Muang Ngoi on our Laos itinerary if we had a do-over.

It was raining

My classic “I hate the rain” walk

Yes yes yes I KNOW - Muang Ngoi cannot be held responsible for the weather. But I have to say that rain does have that annoying way of making everything look and feel worse.

Whilst the boat ride down to Muang Ngoi via the Nam Ou river was still absolutely stunning, despite the rain, our arrival from the boat dock into the small town was anything but. 

As we traipsed up the stairs, we were greeted by a cacophony of voices which turned out to be lots of sodden people asking us if we wanted a room. 

The very beautiful scenery on the Nam Ou river

All the advice we’d read was to ignore these room touts and head to a particular place and so we did this, along what seemed to be a river of mud. The whole village was muddy and the further we walked, the wetter and more caked in mud we got. 

And this didn't change for the whole three days we were in the town - perhaps one of the reasons you shouldn't visit this area in low season. We were basically wet, cold and mud-spattered every single day.

And it’s not like we can’t deal with the outdoors or treacherous muddy paths. 

I am sure that sunny and dry weather would have made for a better experience and made the village look nicer as well. As it was, the whole place just looked muddy, grimy and disgusting.

Terrible food

Looking distinctly unimpressed with the menu

Being wet and cold, we thought we could remedy things by getting some hot food inside us. And Laotian food had not disappointed us anywhere - we simply couldn't get enough of it. This was a solution that was sure to lift our spirits!

The restaurant opposite our guesthouse seemed to be open so we dashed across the mud in the rain and settled ourselves inside. A stony-faced woman gave us two menus and we decided to order two Lao pumpkin soups, a fresh mint tea and a Sprite.

We gave the woman our order and she screwed her face up as though taking orders from us, the restaurant's only customers, was way too much hard work.

Ten minutes later, a sign that things weren't going to be okay arrived with our drinks: one Sprite and one fresh ginger tea. Okay, it wasn't what we ordered, but I like fresh ginger tea too so I wasn't going to complain.

This, folks, is apparently mint tea. Who’d a thunk it?!

Another five minutes went by before the woman reappeared and unceremoniously dumped one pumpkin soup down on the table. Now, I wasn't expecting some luxurious creamed concoction served with artisanal sourdough bread, but to call what we were served a soup was a stretch. 

It was basically yellowish hot water with about six pieces of pumpkin and some chopped onions floating in it. Oh and some black pepper streaked on top.

This food was sh*t. There is no other way to describe it. Another pumpkin-in-water dish didn't look in danger of appearing so we shared what we had, paid and then traipsed back through the mud to our room, thoroughly disappointed and still hungry.

YUCKS.

The next day, we had a sad breakfast at Muang Ngoi Local Food (a stale cheese salad baguette and a greasy banana pancake. We had tried to order Laotian food for breakfast but most of the dishes were unavailable). The food here was evidently not going to get any better. 

We mostly ended up eating at the fairly tasty but overpriced Gecko restaurant. The pizzas were pretty salty but they baked their own baguettes and offered freshly made sandwiches, which compared to the rank soup tasted like they had been made by a Michelin starred chef.

Salty but the best thing available

The worst thing about this is that Laotian food is f@%king delicious. It’s a party in your mouth. It also doesn’t usually burn a hole in your wallet and you never leave hungry. We felt like these places were literally committing crimes against Laotian food (and food in general).

Happily, lots of good food can be found in Vientiane - check out our post on Laos’ underrated capital city.

We had breakfast and dinner at Gecko restaurant for two days which cost us a bomb but cheered us up no end. They also made homemade coconut and chocolate ice cream which, in my book, makes any restaurant a winner. 

By the end of our time in Muang Ngoi, Vincent (who had been subsisting on a diet almost entirely made up of margarita pizza) said he didn't want to eat or even see a pizza again for a long while.

Unscrupulous Westerners and poor accommodation

Okay…maybe not quite like this

We decided to stay at Lerdkeo guesthouse because we had read that it was one of the few places that had concrete walls instead of bamboo ones which was a deterrent to burglars other backpackers.

When we got to the guesthouse no one was around and then suddenly a young European guy appeared out of nowhere and asked us if we were interested in staying there. 

We said yes and he offered us a rate of 100,000kip per night for two nights. We asked him for a better deal as it was low season and there was hardly anyone around. He suggested 80,000kip per night which seemed much more like it. 

Deal done, we gave him 200,000kip. He told us that he didn't have any change but that we could come and find him at the main office for the guesthouse - apparently, a place facing the river that had a huge map of the area - and he would be sure to give it to us.

As soon as money exchanged hands I had a funny feeling that we wouldn't be seeing this rat-faced pr*ck again. We scoured the bungalows down by the river - even finding the office he had told us about - and looked for him all around the small town but sure enough, he seemed to have disappeared.

We found the office…but not the man himself.

The standard of accommodation in Muang Ngoi did not seem great to us. Our bungalow, though solidly built, suffered from damp, had a mosquito net full of holes and lines of ants marched across the walls and floors from morning till night. The sheets were a bit torn and stained. Was this all supposed to be part of the rustic, village vibe? 

We aren’t the kind of people who usually stay in the Four Seasons (although we are known to have the occasional splurge) and yes, this room was ‘only’ 80,000kip (£7/$9) per night. 

However, it did seem strange that for 20,000kip more in Luang Prabang you could get a gorgeous double room with an ensuite bathroom plus your breakfast included. 

I have nothing against ants (this one looks quite friendly) and in South East Asia, bugs are pretty much par for the course. But I’ve still never stayed else where ants are just…everywhere.

Clearly what you are paying for in Muang Ngoi is the chance to stay at a 'remote' location with a river view. (Or maybe you are paying because you have no choice and are essentially f@%king trapped there, until you can get the boat back down the river.) 

After two days in Muang Ngoi we decided to extend for a third night basically because that fool had 40,000kip of our money and also because we could do with a planning day to decide where on earth to go next (hopefully our next destination would be somewhere better). 

I also suspected that the amazing disappearing man would miraculously reappear after checkout time on the morning of our third day (assuming that we would have left to take the early boat back to Nong Khiaw) and boy was I right: a gentle knock on the door and surprise, we were still there.

"Oh, you are still here?" he said, with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

Uh huh.

Yep that's right, you thieving bastard. We gave him the remaining 40000kip for our third night (making it 80,000kip per night as it should have been) and closed the door in his face. 

He was lucky that we were still there because our plan B had been to leave in the morning, padlock the door and chuck the key in the Nam Ou river. 

Apparently, he had been looking for us but couldn't find us. My gut says that he wasn't trying too hard considering that he knew exactly where we were staying.

Unfriendly people

Perhaps jaded by unwashed elephant pants wearing backpackers who want to stare at the river through marijuana glazed eyes for days on end, the people of Muang Ngoi town were decidedly standoffish and unfriendly.

Smiles were met with glares, attempts to ask for details of what to do around the area were met with shakes of the head, stony silence or a dismissive glance.

We found Laotians to be kind, friendly and extremely helpful throughout our trip so this experience was a bit of a shock to the system. However, props go out to the guys at Gecko restaurant: as well as serving half decent food, they were really friendly and helpful.

It was just completely inauthentic

The setting might be rural, but in reality, Muang Ngoi is a backpacker’s paradise

The whole experience of Muang Ngoi just struck as being inauthentic - basically the complete opposite of how the place is advertised and promoted by other travellers. 

Every single place in the town catered to Western visitors. English language signs advertised the usual souvenirs, elephant pants, snacks and the ubiquitous banana pancakes.

It seemed to us that the town was basically created to serve tourists, rather than it being a place that existed already. 

And despite what everyone might say, Muang Ngoi being only accessible by boat hasn’t stopped it becoming a typical South East Asian backpackers hub. And honestly, I don’t think this is a good thing. 

Maybe this place is the end of the Banana Pancake Trail but if you ask me, the trail should have stopped in Nong Khiaw.

If you are looking for a more off-beat Laotian experience, consider visiting Luang Namtha. 

Despite our experiences, there were some positive things about Muang Ngoi

Now that we’ve got all that out of our system, it is only fair to mention some of the things we didn't hate about Muang Ngoi. Because honestly, there were a few things that we actually did enjoy.

The river views

Gotta admit, this is pretty beautiful

Yes, having a bungalow with a little balcony and a view of the Nam Ou River was nice. Had it not been raining all the time and if we could have avoided being eaten alive by mosquitoes, we would have enjoyed this more. 

On our last day (which turned out to be sunny) we sat out on the balcony at Ning Ning restaurant which offered beautiful views of the river and also caught the sun. And we could see why people chose to come here. Sort of.

Hikes with beautiful scenery

Actually, much of the scenery around Muang Ngoi is stunning

Even though it was raining and we were loath to leave our room, we couldn't face wasting our time in Muang Ngoi. So, aided by our trusty Maps.Me app, we decided to follow a hike recommended on Wikitravel. 

Our course was altered halfway when we came across quite a difficult and dangerous river crossing (the rainy season had turned an innocent stream into a raging torrent) so we switched to another hike also recommended by Wikitravel. 

Vincent expertly testing the depth of a river

This one also involved fording a river (I've only recently learned this fancy-schmancy word for crossing a river and am determined to use it) but it was doable and less risky than the other one.

Still, a bit nerve-wracking considering that one of our bags had our laptops in it! (This is what happens when you are trying to prevent other backpackers from stealing your stuff.)

If you are hiking, it’s important to invest in a comfortable daypack. Read our guide to the best daypacks for women here.

One false step and our laptops would go on a wet and expensive adventure

The hike took us through small villages (with many a cute kitten encounter), and we were treated to views of the verdant landscape all around.

Whilst it may appear as though I am strangling this kitten, I assure you that it was actually very happy.

Eventually, the towering mountains opened out into a gorgeous valley with rice fields extending in every direction under the stormy skies, as far as the eye could see. It was astonishingly beautiful.

We found the tiny and very friendly Thong restaurant and guesthouse and had two cold coffees plus vegetarian fried rice.

The further out from town we went, the nicer people were…

We actually watched the lady pick the vegetables that were going into our food - you can’t get fresher than that! Whilst the fried rice was definitely nothing to write home about, our lunchtime views most certainly were.

Thong Restaurant - a welcome stop on a wet and sweaty hike

The reality of travel

Travelling is all about the ups and downs. Not everything you do is going to be fun; places that other travellers rave about can disappoint and some areas that you have never heard of before can turn out to be hidden gems. 

We know how lucky we are to be travelling at all - it is a massive privilege and something we are grateful that we get the chance to do. Let’s face it: sometimes things f@%k up. And you just have to roll with it. (Alternatively, make yourself feel better by writing it down in a long ranty blog post). 

Whilst Muang Ngoi wasn't for us, we really enjoyed the rest of Laos and spent over two months travelling around the country. It’s definitely somewhere that we would return to. 

Have you ever travelled to a popular place, only to end up disappointed? Have you been to Muang Ngoi in Laos and enjoyed it? We’d love to hear from you!

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