Author: Lonely Planet
Category: Nonfiction
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/lonely-planet/page,10,460391-lonely_planet_laos.html
Muang La
Boten
Luang Namtha (Namtha)
Around Luang Namtha
Muang Sing
Xieng Kok
The Middle Mekong
Huay Xai
Around Huay Xai
Pak Beng
Hongsa
Sainyabuli (Sayaboury)
Pak Lai
Northern Laos
Why Go?
Whether it's for trekking, cycling, kayaking, ziplining or a family homestay, a visit to northern Laos is for many the highlight of their trip. Dotted about are unfettered, dense forests home to tigers, gibbons and a cornucopia of animals, with a well-established ecotourism infrastructure to take you into their very heart.
In the north you will also find a tapestry of vividly attired ethnic tribes unlike anywhere else in Laos.
Here the Land of a Million Elephants morphs into the land of a million hellish bends and travel is not for the faint-hearted, as roads endlessly twist and turn through towering mountain ranges and serpentine river valleys. By contrast, most northern towns are functional places, rebuilt after wholesale bombing during the 20th-century Indochina wars.
But visitors aren't in northern Laos for the towns. It's all about the rural life. River trips are a wonderful way to discover the bucolic scenery at a more languid pace.
When to Go
ANov–Feb The ideal season to visit, with little rain and clear skies; chilly at higher altitudes.
AMar–May This time of year is cooking at lower altitudes; lots of haze around from slash-and-burn cultivation.
AJun–Oct The wet season; accommodation is cheap but humidity is high.
Best Places to Eat
A Lao Falang Restaurant
A Coco Home Bar & Restaurant
A Bamboo Lounge
A Riverside Restaurant
A Souphailin Restaurant
Best Places to Sleep
A Mandala Ou Resort
A Luang Say Lodge
A Zuela Guesthouse
A Nong Kiau Riverside
A Phou Iu III Guesthouse
Northern Laos Highlights
1 Gibbon Experience Soaring through the jungle canopy on ziplines to remote tree houses on this unforgettable adventure near Huay Xai.
2 Nam Ou Karsting away on a boat ride or kayak trip down the Nam Ou (Ou River) between Muang Ngoi Neua and Nong Khiaw.
3 Phongsali Learning about the local lifestyle in homestays on a tribal trek in this remote region.
4 Vieng Xai Caves Discovering the history of the incredible limestone landscape where the Pathet Lao hid from US aerial assault.
5 Plain of Jars Exploring Xieng Khuang's mysterious archaeological sites.
8Getting There & Away
The state of roads linking the north to the rest of Laos is steadily improving. By far the easiest, most popular and most spectacular is Rte 13 from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. The alternative, via Sainyabuli and Pak Lai, is now paved but less scenic. A third possibility, Rte 10 from Muang Khoun to Paksan, is now in good shape, but there are still some lingering security concerns along certain remote stretches. Finally, the hellish ordeal on what was an ulcerous and dangerously slippery road from Udomxai to Phongsali is now completely sealed, but sadly just as serpentine!
8Getting Around
Road journeys in northern Laos are slow and exhausting. Only the key major routes are asphalted and even these are generally so narrow and winding that it's rare to average more than 30km/h, though many bus drivers push their weary steeds quicker than they are safely able to go. On unpaved roads progress is further hampered by mud in wet conditions, while in the dry season, traffic creates vast dust clouds making travel extremely unpleasant by bike or sŏrngtăaou (pick-up trucks fitted with benches in the back for passengers). Follow the local example and wear a face mask. Or consider engaging a private chauffeured minivan (roughly US$100 per day, available in major towns). Fortunately for adventure motorcyclists with decent trail bikes, many secondary roads have virtually no traffic.
A delightful, if often even slower, alternative to road travel is to use riverboats. Think twice before opting for a 'speedboat' – a surfboard with a strap-on car engine might be safer.
Xieng Khuang & Hua Phan Provinces
Long and winding roads run in seemingly endless ribbons across these green, sparsely populated northeastern provinces towards the mysterious Plain of Jars and the fascinating Vieng Xai Caves. Both are truly intriguing places to visit if you're en route to or from Vietnam. Those with the time can add stops in Nong Khiaw and Vieng Thong. The latter is a gateway to the Nam Et/Phou Louey National Protected Area (NPA) and its 'tiger treks'. All of the above feature on Stray's (www.straytravel.asia) pricey Long Thaang bus loop. Almost anywhere else in either province is completely off the tourist radar.
The altitude, averaging more than 1000m, ensures a climate that's neither too hot in the hot season, nor too cold in the cool season. In December and January, a sweater or jacket is appropriate at night and early morning when seas of cloud fill the populated valleys and form other-worldly scenes for those looking down from passes or peaks.
History
Xieng Khuang's world-famous giant 'jars' along with Hintang's mysterious megaliths indicate a well-developed iron-age culture of which historical knowledge is astonishingly hazy. Whoever carved those enigmatic monuments had long since disappeared by the 13th century when Xieng Khuang emerged as a Buddhist, Tai Phuan principality with a capital at today's Muang Khoun. Both provinces spent subsequent centuries as either independent kingdoms or part of Vietnamese vassal states known as Ai Lao and Tran Ninh. In 1832 the Vietnamese captured the Phuan king of Xieng Khuang, publicly executed him in Hué and made the kingdom a prefecture of Annam, forcing people to adopt Vietnamese dress and customs. Chinese Haw gangs ravaged the region in the late 19th century, pushing both provinces to accept Siamese and French protection.
Major skirmishes between the Free Lao and the Viet Minh took place from 1945 to 1946, and as soon as the French left Indochina the North Vietnamese started a build-up of troops to protect Hanoi's rear flank. By the end of the 1960s the area had become a major battlefield. With saturation bombing by American planes obliterating virtually every town and village, much of the population had to live for their protection in caves, only emerging in 1973. At Vieng Xai, the most important of these caves also sheltered the Pathet Lao's anti-royalist government.
North Vietnamese troops did their share of damage on the ground as well, destroying once-magnificent Muang Sui and much of royalist-held western Xieng Khuang Province. After the conflict, infamous samana re-education camps appeared, notably in eastern Hua Phan, to 'rehabilitate' and punish former royalists with a mixture of hard labour and political indoctrination. Many continued into the 1980s and the possibility that a samana still remains near Sop Hao has never been officially confirmed nor denied. Meanwhile, decades after the conflict, unexploded ordnance (UXO) remains very widespread, especially in central and eastern Xieng Khuang, threatening local lives for generations to come.
Phonsavan ໂພນສະຫວັນ
%061
Phonsavan (ໂພນສະຫວັນ) is a popular base from which to explore the Plain of Jars. The town itself has an unfinished feel and is very spread out, with its two parallel main boulevards stretching for about 3km east–west. Fortunately a very handy concentration of hotels, restaurants and tour agents is crammed into a short if architecturally uninspired central 'strip'. More shops, markets and facilities straggle along Rte 7. But the town is best appreciated from the surrounding hills, several of which are pine-clad and topped with small resorts. Keep an eye out too for wooden powder-blue Hmong cottages on the mountain roads with firewood neatly stacked outside.
The region has long been a centre of Phuan language and culture (part of the Tai-Kadai family). There's also a strong Vietnamese presence.
Phonsavan
1Top Sights
1Xieng Khouang UXO-Survivors' Inform
ation CentreC1
1Sights
UXO Information Centre (MAG)C1
2Activities, Courses & Tours
2Amazing Lao TravelC1
Lao Falang Travel ServiceD1
3Sousath TravelD2
4Sleeping
4Anoulack Khen Lao HotelD1
5Hillside ResidenceB1
6Kong Keo GuesthouseD2
7Maly HotelA2
8Vansana Plain of Jars HotelB1
5Eating
9Bamboozle Restaurant & BarD2
10Cranky-T Café & BarD2
11Fresh Food MarketC2
12Lao Falang RestaurantD2
13Nisha RestaurantD2
14Sanga RestaurantC1
6Drinking & Nightlife
15BarviewD3
Transport
16Lao AirlinesB2
17Old Bus Station (Sŏrngtăaou to Muang Kham & Nong Haet)C1
18Phoukham Minibus & Bus StationD1
1Sights
About 1km apart at the southern edge of town are two hilltop memorials (open sunrise to sunset) to Pathet Lao and Vietnamese soldiers lost in the war.
UXO Information Centre (MAG)CULTURAL CENTRE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %061-211010; www.maginternational.org/laos; donations encouraged; h10am-8pm)F
Decades after America's Secret War on Laos, unexploded bombs and mines remain a devastating problem throughout this region. Visit the thought-provoking UXO Information Centre, run by British organisation MAG (Mines Advisory Group) that's been helping to clear Laos' unexploded ordnance since 1994. The centre's information displays underline the enormity of the bomb drops, and there are also examples of (defused) UXO to ponder. Donations are encouraged: US$12 pays for the clearing of around 10 sq metres and a commemorative T-shirt.
Late-afternoon screenings show the powerful documentaries Bomb Harvest (4.30pm; www.bombharvest.com), Surviving the Peace (5.50pm) and Bombies (6.30pm; www.itvs.org/bombies/film.html). They are distressing but important, as they show the full scale of the trauma, from footage of US bombers in action to the ongoing casualties of their horrific legacy.
oXieng Khouang UXO-Survivors' Information CentreCULTURAL CENTRE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.laos.worlded.org; donations encouraged; h8am-8pm)SF
This unexploded ordnance (UXO) information centre and colourful, upbeat shop sells silk laptop bags, purses and handicrafts made by UXO survivors. Aside from displays including prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and bomb parts, there's also a reading room with a wealth of information on the Secret War and the different kinds of UXO that still present a danger to Laos today. Ask to see the video Surviving Cluster Bombs. Note that 90% of your donations go towards the treatment of UXO survivors.
MulberriesFARM
(ປໍສາ %061-561271; www.mulberries.org; h8am-4pm Mon-Sat)
This is a fair-trade silk farm that offers interesting free visits including a complete introduction to the silk-weaving process from cocoon to colourful scarves. It's off Rte 7 just west of the main bus station.
UXO & WAR JUNK
During the Indochina wars, Laos earned the dubious distinction of becoming the most heavily bombed nation per capita in world history. Xieng Khuang Province was especially hard hit and even today, innumerable scraps of combat debris remain. Much of it is potentially deadly unexploded ordnance (UXO), including mortar shells, white phosphorous canisters (used to mark bomb targets) and assorted bombs. Some of the most problematic UXO comes from cluster bombs, 1.5m-long torpedo-shaped packages of evil whose outer metal casing was designed to split open lengthwise in mid-air, scattering 670 tennis-ball-sized bomblets ('bombies') over a 5000-sq-metre area. Once disturbed, a bombie would explode, projecting around 30 steel pellets like bullets, killing anyone within a 20m radius. Over 40 years after bombing ceased, almost one person a day is still injured or killed by UXO in Laos, 40% of them children. Tens of millions of bombies remain embedded in the land, causing an ever-present danger to builders, farmers and especially young children, who fatally mistake them for toys. And for impoverished villagers, the economic temptation to collect UXO to sell as scrap metal has caused numerous fatalities. Despite valiant ongoing clearance efforts, at current rates it would take an estimated 150 years to deal with the problem.
Cluster-bomb casings, which were not themselves explosive, have meanwhile found a wide range of more positive new uses. In some places you can see them reused as architectural features, feeding troughs, pots for growing spring onions or simply as ornaments around houses or hotels.
If you find any war debris, don't be tempted to touch it. Even if it appears to be an exhibit in a collection, beware that some hotels display war junk that's never been properly defused and might remain explosive. Even if it isn't live and dangerous, the Lao legal code makes it illegal to trade in war leftovers of any kind. Purchase, sale or theft of any old weaponry can result in a prison term of between six months and five years.
TTours
Several agents on the main drag and virtually every guesthouse will be ready to slot you into a one-day Plain of Jars tour visiting the three main sites. The going rate is 150,000K including a noodle-soup lunch and entry fees. This price is contingent on there being at least seven fellow passengers.
Other advertised tours include trips to places such as Muang Khoun, Muang Sui or Tham Piu, but these rarely garner enough customers for prices to be competitive. Try gathering your own group.
Lao Falang Travel ServiceADVENTURE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-55406868, 020-23305614; Rte 7; one-day trip US$108)
Run by a dependable Italian guy, this outfit operates multiday and one-day motorbike tours, of which 70% to 85% are spent off-road (depending on your confidence). A one-day tour typically includes Jar Site 1, the Russian tank and Muang Khoun. Dinner is included at the excellent Lao Falang Italian restaurant. Solid, experienced guides ensure you don't go beyond your comfort zone.
Sousath TravelTOURS
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-55406868, 020-23305614; [email protected]; Rte 7; h8am-8pm)
Sousath offers very reliable tours to the Plain of Jars and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, as well as homestays in Hmong villages. For war obsessives he can organise trips to Long Tien, the clandestine runway in the Saisombun jungle created by the CIA during the Secret War. He also rents bikes (20,000K) and scooters (manual/automatic 70,000/90,000K).
Amazing Lao TravelHIKING
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %020-22340005; www.amazinglao.com; Rte 7)
Runs treks to the jar sites and two-day treks in the mountains, including a homestay in a Hmong village. As ever, the more the merrier, with prices falling for larger groups.
RIVER TRIPS
Until the 1990s, riverboats were an essential form of intercity passenger transport in Laos. Today villagers in roadless hamlets still travel by river, while several longer-distance routes remain possible thanks in significant part to tourist interest. On riverboats the journey is an attraction in itself.
MEKONG SLOWBOATS
Huay Xai–Pak Beng or Pak Beng–Luang Prabang (one day) Both sectors are very pleasant one-day rides. Boats are designed for 70 passengers but are sometimes seriously overcrowded. The seats are usually very hard, but you can get up and walk around. There's a toilet on board and usually a stall selling snacks and overpriced beer.
Huay Xai–Luang Prabang (two days) Travel in relative luxury with Luang Say Cruise or Shompoo Cruise. Both run boats that are similar in size to the Mekong slowboats but carry a maximum of 40 passengers. The Luang Say Cruise is not for the budget traveller, but includes meals, sightseeing stops and excellent overnight accommodation at the Luang Say Lodge.
MEKONG SPEEDBOATS
Huay Xai–Luang Prabang (one day) Scarily fast, dangerous and excruciatingly uncomfortable if you're not small and supple. It's also best to avoid this trip when river levels have dropped after the wet season, giving boatmen less clearance of the underwater pillars of rocks.
NAM THA BOATS
Luang Nam
tha–Huay Xai or Na Lae–Huay Xai longboat (one day) You can now only take the boat as far as Ban Phaeng, where a dam has recently been built; from here you are picked up and driven the remaining route to Huay Xai. What was a two-day experience is now just a day, though you still have around eight hours of puttering downriver. The journey starts in Luang Namtha where you are driven by car to Na Lae to board the boat.
Hat Sa–Muang Khua is no longer possible since the Nam Ou (Ou River) was dammed, although Muang Khua–Nong Khiaw (six hours) still sees boats leave Muang Khua every morning, passing through Muang Ngoi Neua (five hours) before arriving in Nong Khiaw, and taking you through the country's most spectacular karst scenery.
Nong Khiaw–Luang Prabang (one day) Due to the damming of the Nam Ou, the boat trip to Luang Prabang was not possible at the time of writing, but will, like the other dam-affected river trips, be available in sections in the near future, and will involve hopping in and out of vehicles and boats to accommodate the obstacles.
4Sleeping
Central Strip
Kong Keo GuesthouseGUESTHOUSE$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %061-211354, 020-285858; www.kongkeojar.com; dm 40,000K, r in outside block 80,000K, chalets 120,000K; W)
Run by Veomany, at the time of writing he was doing a great job of replacing the shoddy wood huts with six balconied brick chalets. While the seven-berth dorm is cramped, the outdoor block has large clean rooms with mint-green walls and private bathroom. The UXO-decorated restaurant-bar has nightly barbecues, and Veomany runs excellent tours to the Plain of Jars.