The bridge overlooking the Nam Ou River in Nong Khiew is the perfect place to watch life drift slowly past (click here for a close up view of the river).

We met up with some other travelers on the bus to Nong Khiew. Yaneka and Femka on the left and right side of this photo are from Holland, and Stu in the middle is from the UK.

It would take this guy a lot longer to get across the river with his bike if the bridge wasn't there.

Maybe it was the geography, but this view of the bridge reminded me a little of the bridge over the river Kwai (click here for a close up view of the bridge).

Houses in Nong Khiew are very simple and not showy.

Catching a sunset from the bridge over the Nam Ou River was a great photo op.

The steep limestone mountains surrounding the river become outlines as shadows close over the valley (click here for a close up view of this photo).

There is a small monastery outside Nong Khiew where monks like this one study buddhism.

The view from the monastery is pretty inspiring (click here for a close up view of the mountains).

One afternoon we took a hike around the nearby fields to get a little closer to some of the mountains of Nong Khiew. This rice paddy sits against the foot of the nearest mountain.

I imagine the owner of this bike was probably tending his rice paddy nearby.

I put this panoramic shot together to try and capture the dramatic limestone mountains in Nong Khiew (click here for a close up view of the mountains).

I took a bunch of photos of this mossy tree at the edge of a rice field .

This towering limestone outcrop is the home of some large caves where refugees hid during the war here.

Here's another panoramic shot of Nong Khiew skyline (click here for a close up view of the mountains).

As the sun set behind the mountains, they turned bluer and bluer. Kind of like the Blue Ridge Mountains in my home of Virginia.

Here's a panoramic shot of the mountains at dusk (click here for a close up view of the mountains).

Just before it got too dark, we climbed up to the caves to check them out. The view of the rice fields and surrounding mountains is pretty spectacular.