Celebrating the new year

From Nong Khiaw we took a day trip up the river to the small town of Muang Ngoi to catch what supposed to be some amazing scenery. In Nong Khiaw it was easy to forget it was the Lao New Year because the town played it pretty low key. Our first look at the boats heading up to Muang Ngoi, or at least the cargo that was heading up there, hinted at a slightly more boisterous celebration of the New Year. While we ate breakfast above the river, we watched as two proters made a continuous circuit to and from the beach, each carrying two cases of 12 bottles of 700ml beers apiece. The result of this procession was as one would expect, a very large formation of beer cases stacked on the beach ready to be shipped up the river.

A little over an hour after we had shoved off we puttered into Muang Ngoi the party was already getting started at 11am. On the opposite bank of the river there were a couple of tents set up, a makeshift soundsystem, and plenty of Beer Lao. This complicated our original plans to make our trip to Muang Ngoi just a day, seeing as anybody that could potentially give us a ride back down the river was well on their way to having trouble walking, let alone steering a boat.

We decided to head out for a hike and weigh our options when we returned. The hike was serene, but as usual most of the views were obscured by smoke. We spent an hour or two wandering out to a nearby village, than meandering back through the open fields. The heat of the day required a mid-afternoon plunge in the cleanest part of the river we could find. Apparently others had the same idea because just down stream we found about 10-15 water buffaloes placidly standing and lying in the river avoiding the heat.

We made some quick tracks back to town, only to find the town dock more-or-less deserted and a huge party raging across the river. I say more-or-less because there was a blue tarp party boat shuttling stragglers to the party as well as dispensing beer along the way. When it came down to it we really didn't have much of a choice, stay on the empty beach...or join the party. As soon as the party boat floated up, we hopped on and joined the party. Since celebrating the New Year involves throwing water on everybody in sight, and we were by a river, total saturation occurred in about 30 seconds.

Luckily when we arrived on the opposite bank we managed to find our ferry driver and surprisingly he was sober and heading back down the river in a few hours. Until then we joined in on the festivities, drank beer, swam in the river, and threw water on anybody in sight. Our ride back down the river an hour or so later provided absolutely stunning views. Although smoke limited the views, it also managed to illuminate the karsts with a beautiful fiery red aura as the sun descended below the horizon and we glided down the Nam Ou.