 The next stop in our trip was Oudomxay. Actually, we did not have any experience in Oudomxai and the place is not really interesting for visitor. Maybe it’s a pit stop along the way from Luang Namtha to Pakbeng only. The next morning was spent to inspect some hotels in town, however, none was selected for our clients. The hotel that we stayed in, the Surinphone Hotel is actually the best one in town.
Our next drive was from Oudomxai to Pakbeng, which is 147 km. The town of Pakbeng is small and pleasant lying by the Mekong River. Some more guesthouse and restaurant are being built. The town seems to be popular for backpackers to overnight before the next morning boat trip to Luang Prabang on the next day.
There are some good hotels in Pakbeng like the Pakbeng Lodge, Luang Say Lodge and Phetsoxai hotel. The Luang Say Lodge is for Luang Say Cruise’s guests only. It has 21 rooms in total and all are twins. The Lodge has a charming bungalow style with wooden roof, a nice garden, and airy corridor lead to bungalows, bamboo fence. The restaurant is very nice with good quality rattan furniture, nice table setting and very good view from the Mekong River. The rooms are very good with good size, good wooden furniture, good bed and cover, large window over looking the river. If you take the Luang Say Cruise, you will be able to stay in the Luang Say Lodge. The Lodge is full most of the time so early booking is advised.
The Pakbeng Lodge, the one that we stayed in, has 20 rooms in total and all are twins, double room should be informed in advance as they have to put 2 single beds together to make a big bed. The Lodge has 2 separate buildings, a very pleasant setting with many beautiful pot-plans, a larger garden. The restaurant is spacious and airy overlooking the Mekong River with nice setting table and a small souvenir shops. The food is good as well. The rooms are well equipped with wooden floor, ceiling fan, good décor in wall, good bed and cover. All rooms have balcony and good view from the Mekong River. We promote it for our clients, who wants to take a private boat cruise, not with the one from Luang Say Cruise.
We also inspected the Luang Say Cruise, a luxury cruise in term of facilities with wooden tables, good covers, clean and good facilities bathroom. However, for the capacity of maximum 45 pax, it will be too small and crowded. Please note that the Luang Say Lodge is just for the customers who book Luang Say Cruise with them and vice versa.
The next morning was a pleasant cruise down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. Actually, it was a relaxing day after consecutive long-driving days, passing through areas of un-spoilt and beautiful forests. The boat was private with small open-air area, comfortable seat. The crew were helpful and friendly. Simple but good lunch cooked by the captain’s wife. Coffee, tea and fruits were included in the price and customers can use as much as they wish. There’s a toilet on the boat which is OK. In general, we found our private boat cruise seem to be more relaxing and enjoyable than the sharing Luang Say Cruise as there will be many people on the boat.
On arrival in Luang Prabang, we drove to the Laos Spirit Resort, which is only 15km from the town centre; however, the road condition is not good so it took us 40 minutes to get there. The Laos Spirit has 5 bungalows (3 doubles, 2 twins) in total. The lodge itself is very impressive and charming with large room size, very nice décor in wall, very good bed and cover and very good quality of local materials. The balcony is large overlooking the river and the elephant camp. A free show of elephant bathing in the early morning can be arranged upon requested. The bathroom is large with good facilities; it also has an open-air shower. The restaurant is very good as well with top quality of wooden floor (80-year old trees), simple and charming setting, good price for food and drinks. We promote the Laos Spirit Resort for honeymoon tours as well as soft adventure for our clients in Luang Prabang.
Just one night in the lovely Villa Santi Resort was too short, however, we did not have much time. After an early breakfast at the Villa Santi, we had our car driving to Xieng Khoang. View from our room to the rice fields and moutains was great.
We were warned in advance that today’s drive would be at least 6-7 hours and we took some anti-car-sick tablets, however, the road from Luang Prabang to Xieng Khoang was really good. No double to say that it is one of the most spectacular roads in Laos with beautiful forest and mountain view.
After checked in the hotel, we started joining the FAM TRIP organized by the Laos National Tourism Administration (LNTA) to visit the Plan of Jars, site 1 and then to Site 2. The Plain of Jars is a large group of historic cultural sites in Laos containing thousands of stone jars, which lie scattered throughout the Xieng Khoang. Archaeologists believe that the jars were used 1,500 – 2000 years ago, by an ancient Mon-Khmer race whose culture is now totally unknown. Most of the excavated material has been dated to around 500 BC – 800 AD. Anthropologists and archaeologists have theorized that the jars may have been used as funeral urns or perhaps storage for food.
There are total of more than 400 sites across the whole Plain of Jars that centers on the area of Xieng Khouang. The largest one near the town of Phonsavan, known as Site 1, contains over 250 jars of varying sizes.
The Plain of Jars remains one of the most dangerous archaeological sites in the world. Unexploded bombs still cause injuries every week that were the results of massive U.S. bombardment during the Secret War. The large quantity of UXO (unexploded ordnances) in the area means that only Sites 1, 2 and 3 are open to visitors —the others are considered too dangerous. Visitors can safely visit only three sites, designated Jar Sites 1, 2 and 3 and they should follow signs still warning of unexploded bombs. It's me in a small jar! 
Our guesthouse, the Maly Guesthouse was just OK for one night with small size of room, normal facilities and furniture, good breakfast. The itinerary was too rush and we didn’t have any time to inspect some other guesthouses in the town but no doubt that the town lack of good accommodation. The Vasana Xieng Khoang can be the best choice in town.
Another early get up in the morning, today, we drove to Sam Neua. Sam Neua is the capital of Houphanh Province and located in a small picturesque valley, a town of white concrete houses topped with red roofs, surrounded, by the vibrant green of young rice fields and the grey-green of the mountains. The town is famous for two major reasons. Firstly, for the beauty and originality of the locally weaving, secondly, for exploring nearby Vieng Xai, where the current government lived, worked and ran the war from inside caves deep in stunning karst limestone cliffs from 1964 to 1975.
Not too many foreign tourists visit Sam Neua so it’s still considered an off-beaten site in Laos. However, the lack of good accommodation and the limited selection of restaurants could be a reason to prevent tourists to this place. It's anyway definitely worth a visit if you're interested in visiting the caves or as part of a tough travelling loop across the rooftop of Indochina. En-route, we visit the Hin Tang Archaeological site (Standing Stone Park). The Hin Tang Archaeological Park was recently opened as a tourist site of Huaphanh province. The Standing Stones mark ancient gravesites over 1,500 years old and have a character similar to Stonehenge in England. The site itself worth a short visit on the way to Sam Neua.
Today, we continued driving to Vieng Xay, the hidden city of Laos. Along the way, we had a short stop visiting the Talei Waterfall and an ethnic village.
On arrival, we visited the Nam Xoi border (Na Meo border in Vietnam side). Na Meo border is in Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa Province of Vietnam. Visa on arrival is not available at the moment at Laos side but can be arranged at Vietnam side. It opens everyday but additional cost will be applied on weekend.
In the mid-afternoon, we visited the Hospital cave, which is 7km from Vieng Xay. It used to be a hospital during the American war and we still can find some medicines used inside the cave. The Government caves have 5 separate caves, which are close and easy-to-reach to each other. It used to be the place where the current government lived, worked and ran the war from 1964 to 1975. A number of these caves are open for visitors, so with an official guide you can see the stunning karst limestone cliffs, the stark living environments, the dark and damp conditions they had to put up with to avoid being bombed.
The last morning in Laos, we got up early and went to a local market observed the daily life of the local people. It was very interesting to see the vendors selling many things from fresh vegetables to dry food like fried sticky cake, pork, beef, fish and even deer-meat…
It’s time to say goodbye to the beautiful and friendly Laos people, we back to Vietnam. Not like other tour operators from Laos, Thailand driving back to Xieng Khoang and took the flight to Vientiane and then to their next destination, we drove back to the Na Meo Border and then continued driving to Mai Chau, stayed there for one night and back to Hanoi. End of trip! |
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