A border post above the clouds

[by Jonas] On Tuesday morning, our next journey began. We had booked a minivan with hostel transfer directly in our hostel (75,000 Kip per person = €7.33). There were many other providers in the city who sold all bus trips and did not differ much in price. However, we decided to book directly at the hostel (although we had a bad experience with that), because we really liked the staff and it seemed reliable and simple this time.

Shortly before departure, we quickly paid for the hostel and everything that went with it, such as the laundry service or the minivan trip, which, by the way, took us to Nong Khiaw. As soon as we finished breakfast, a tuk-tuk was already waiting in front of the hostel and we got in, putting our backpacks on the roof as usual. The tuk-tuk was full with us and was already sagging at the back. But it didn't take long for us to realize that we were driving further into the city instead of going to the minivan bus station. At the mentioned hostel, four more French people squeezed into the tuk-tuk. Now it was completely crowded and accordingly crooked. There was no more suspension, as it was already at its limit under full load due to our weight. This became noticeable when we still didn't head to the southern minivan bus station, but to our surprise, we drove north, where the roads became noticeably worse. When we turned into an undeveloped side street, we realized that our destination was not the bus station. It only took a few bumps in the road until we almost got stuck in the muddy driveway of a private front yard, where only one minivan stood. With a little jerk, we managed it and as soon as the tuk-tuk stopped, our luggage was loaded into the minivan. So we all got in. It wasn't until the driver started the engine that a passenger asked, "Nong Khiaw," and the driver's answer, "Nong Khiaw, 3 hours," was not very understandable, but seemed to relieve everyone else as well as us. And off we went. The ride itself was not particularly interesting. I think I don't need to mention that the road users confuse the streets with a race track. But I still do, because on this trip we had to realize once again that Laotian roads are not very well built and that we sometimes made such strong jumps that I seriously considered what would happen if we broke down.
But this scenario didn't happen and we arrived in Nong Khiaw quite punctually. We hadn't heard of this place before Luang Prabang, but when we looked into the further journey, we found that it could be a logical stopover on our route towards Vietnam. Therefore, we read in travel guides and on the internet that it should be a picturesque, idyllic place. But what we found was more than impressive! A small, quiet town on a big river in a mountain landscape, as it could be depicted on a travel poster.