Introducing Sam Neua
Tucked away in a narrow valley formed by the Nam Sam at about 1200m above sea level, Sam Neua remains one of the country’s least visited provincial capitals. Swimming in the milieu of history, eye-widening produce markets (and less appealing Chinese goods) and ethnic diversity, it possesses the tang ardently sought by inquisitive travellers. The town and its surrounds shift through great contrasts of climate and colour. From April to October the landscape is lush and warm from the rains. As the cooler dry sets in, flowers speckle the streets until the wet begin again in December. Sam Neua makes an excellent base to explore the rest of the province, which is slowly but surely opening up. Residents are mostly Lao, Vietnamese and Hmong, along with some Thai Dam, Thai Daeng and Thai Lü.
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Last updated: Nov 5, 2008
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
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Re: from Hanoi to Laos (Luang Prabang maybe)
by vibinguyen 06 July 2011
When I was in Nong Kiaw in Feb 2011, I took a 10:00 PM bus to Sam Neau, then a 8AM bus from SamNeua to Thanh Hoa (from here up north to…
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RE: Bus Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang
by wanderingstraycat 02 July 2011
earliest LPB to VV bus (*) will prob reach VV in early aftn (takes abt 6+h). don't know what time the last VV > VTE bus departs. but there…
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RE: culture or lary drunks?
by StillWithUs 23 June 2011
"Is there still some reasonably unspoilt places that are easy to travel and still have some other backpackers around" It comes down to…
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