Getting there and away

Bus

Unlike Muang Ngoi, overland travel to/from Nong Kiaow is available, usually in the form of songtheaws. Often, they will not leave until (very) full, so all times are approximate, but be sure to get there early if you want a (semi) comfortable seat. All mini-buses and trucks fill up at the boat landing and then take passengers up to the bus station (just up the hill) to buy tickets, so venture down a bit before scheduled times to catch one before it fills up. Bigger buses are usually stopping en-route from other destinations, so again, be prepared to wait around a bit. For these, buy tickets at the bus station and wait on the bridge for the bus to pass.

Overland destinations include:
Luang Prabang: departs at 08:30, 11:00, 12:00, costs 32,000 kip and takes 3.5-4 hours.
Sam Neua: departs at 19:00, costs 70,000 kip and takes 13 hours.
Udomxai departs at 11:30, costs 31,000 kip and takes 4 hours.
Vieng Kham: departs at 10:00, costs 20,000 kip and takes 3 hours.

Boat

Getting to Nong Kiaow from Luang Prabang is the easiest part and is covered in the Luang Prabang transport section. To summarise, the options are local bus, minibus, and slow boat, all of which leave at scheduled times and none of which should be a problem booking.

From Nong Kiaow to Muang Ngoi is a bit trickier as the public slow boat departs only at 11:00 and 14:00 (20,000 kip), leaving those who arrive later stuck in Nong Kiaow for the night (not such a bad thing). Of course, a boat can be chartered outside of those times, but not without expense. It should cost about 300,000 kip one-way, or 400,000 round-trip. A final possibility is to negotiate a fare onboard a boat that happens to be going from one to the other, usually for some sort of delivery. A fair price is around 50,000 kip/person.

On the flip side, public boats leave Muang Ngoi for Nong Kiaow at 09:00 and 11:00. Outside of those times, the options are the same as those outlined above.

Other public slow boat destinations include:

Muang Ngoi to Muang Khua: departs at 08:00, costs 88,000 kip and takes 4 hours – Note that this boat leaves infrequently, so be sure to get up-to-date info at the boat landing.
Muang Khua to Phongsali: departs at 08:00, costs 88,000 kip and takes 5-6 hours
Nong Kiaow to Luang Prabang: departs at 10:00, costs 110,000 kip and takes 6-7 hours

Boats can also be chartered to these destinations at much higher cost.