Introduction
If you're coming from Nong Khiaw or Luang Prabang, you'll probably end up in one of these villages on your way to Muang Sing or further north to Phongsali. The road to these villages is very bad.
Udomxai
There's nothing special about this village. It looks more Chinese. you'll find some minorities here near the market (Hmong and tribal Thai).
We stayed at the Si Van Kham guesthouse for 5000 Kipp pp. It's a little run down but still OK. Toilets are dirty, restaurant was closed
Another place is the Phouxai hotel. It looks like a Chinese prison. Rooms are humid and run down and go for 10.000 Kipp pp.
For dinner or breakfast the Seng Souk restaurant on the main road is good. Expect to pay around 15.000 Kipp pp for dinner. At the busstation there are some good and cheap noodle shops. You'll find the busstation right across the river. From here there are buses to:
- Pakbeng-LP: 15.000 Kipp pp, at least 9 hours, very tough road.
- To Luang Nam Tha: around 3 to 4 hours, very bad road. 14.000 Kipp pp.
Luang Nam Tha
This is a jumping off point for Muang Sing. If you have time to kill, you can walk to neighbouring villages, but otherwise there's nothing special.
A good guesthouse is the Darasavath near the busstation. They've built nice wooden cabins for 5.000 Kipp pp. The restaurant is very good. The friendly female owner speaks very good English and can give all kinds of info.
There are several buses to Muang Sing. It takes 2 hours on a very bad road, price 8000 Kipp pp.
It's also possible to go to the Thai border at Huay Xai.
- By bus it's only possible in dry season, but the road is very very very bad, and the trip takes 8 to 14 hours on an old Russian bus. Price is 15.000 Kipp.
- We heard that the boat trip is quite beautiful although expensive at 50.000 Kipp pp. The owner of Darasavath guesthouse can give info on this.
Go to Muang Sing If you have further questions on Laos, please e-mail
Geert Van Vaeck
