This excursion will take you into the countryside surrounding Nong Khiaw and enable you to meet with local Khamu villagers.
Beginning with a leisurely boat ride up the Nam Ou to Muang Ngoi (approximately one hour), a remote and extremely beautiful mountainous area north of Nong Khiaw, you then take a light trek through the fields and forest.
You visit a cave used by villagers to shelter during the American bombing of the 60s and 70s. This is just a short trek and going is fairly easy to moderate in the dry season.
You then visit a local Khamu minority village. The Khamu are traditionally upland rice farmers, specializing in dry cultivation. They are also famed for their excellent bamboo and rattan weaving skills and are extremely adept at utilizing the forest for subsistence by hunting and gathering for wild food and medicine. If it is possible on the day you will be given the opportunity of learning some of these skills from one of the villagers.