We'll be traveling from Nam Tha to LP in a couple weeks. Instead of taking the bus the entire way, I thouhgt it might be nice to do a portion of it on the Nam Ou river. Where could I find a reliable palce on the Nam Ou to catha a ride south ? I was thinking Muang Khua, though that might not be easily accessible by bus from LNT. Any thoughts or criticisms would be appreciated.
1
craig schuler
Nong Khiaw would be the easiest place I think. You may need to change buses in Udom Sai or at the T junction later to get there though...
2
hanuman
Yep, Nong Khiaw is likely your best bet and least costly. Just take the early morning bus from LNamtha to Oudomxai and transfer there to a sonthaew headed directly to Nong Khiaw [or if you miss that songthaew, you can take a Pak Mong songthaew and transfer there for another songthaew headed to NK.
There are no regularly scheduled longtail boats running between NK and LP but now as the high season is warming up with more tourists already in northern Laos, I'd suggest contacting the boatlanding master at the hut right above the boats and he will be able to inform you if other travellers/locals are also headed to LP in which case it's cheaper to split the cost. You may even have to wait around for a day or two; not too bad of a predicament unless you're short on time, because it'll provide you the opportunity to visit Moung Ngoi as well, which is another one hour longtail boat ride northwest to an even more scenic landscape along the banks of the Nam Ou. The boatlanding master at Moung Ngoi also assists travellers interested in sharing a boat back to LP and it's virtually the same costs as from NK.
3
steve86
The scenery between Muang Khua and Muang Ngoi Muea (spelling?) is spectacular, i can't stress this enough. Between MNG and NK its quite average. It's easy to get to Muang Khua from LNT but many people simply don't do it. Get th early 9am (?) bus to Udomxai (maybe 4 hours) and then transfer to Muang Khua (3 hours i think)! In all honesty it was the best split second decision i made on my trip in laos. Such a beautiful area, and very untouched. However this will change rapidly since the new Lao/Viet border crossing was opened near Muang Khua! Good luck
4
anonymous
Both Nong Khiaw and Muang Khua are points to get on the river (or Phongsaly further up north that is). In all cases you will have to go through Oudomxai.
Nong Khiaw sees most tourists, many continuing to Muang Ngoi. Therefore easiest option to get on boat. There are so many these days that you can actually count on having daily boats these days (just passed through and was amazed on how many foreigners there going to-from Muang Ngoi compared to last season...)
Scenery wise nicest is between Muang Ngoi and Muang Khua. Disadavantage is that boats there don't really run on a regular basis, it's cost of boat split by number of availabe passengers (Phongsaly operates same principle). So if there are only few people around it can get expensive...
However with the new border opened east of Maung Khua a increase in tourism can be expected there and more pax to split boat cost to muang Ngoi.
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5
dcmj
Excellent advice, thanks very much guys! We're good on time so I think we're going to try it from Muang Khua.
In the unlikey case there's not many people around, how much would a boat from MK to MN cost? 100 USD, more, less?
Many thanks.
6
stillwithus
Good choice. MK is one of my most favorite places.
The slowboat (3-4 hr?) is about $6-8 if I recall, assuming its got a pretty full load. Fast boats ply the waters, but the hour it takes shouldn't cost much above $40-50 (I'd think).
7
wanderingstraycat
DCMJ: MK to Nong Khiaw (aka. Muang Ngoi) should be ~USD100 to charter a slow boat, MK to Muang Ngoi Neua (~1 hour upriver from NK) perhaps less. something about the boat prices here
most tourists i saw in Nong Khiaw were passing through on their way from Luang Prabang to Muang Ngoi Neua & vice versa. they spent perhaps 15 min in Nong Khiaw, just enough time to stretch their legs & walk up/down the boat landing steps to transfer between Luang Prabang bus/songthaew & Muang Ngoi Neua boat. so Nong Khiaw was rather peaceful & quiet esp on other side of the river =)
i missed out on the MK-Nong Khiaw section of the Nam Ou...those who have done this stretch care to share some beautiful photos?
8
anonymous
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>i missed out on the MK-Nong Khiaw section of the Nam Ou...those who have done this stretch care to share some beautiful photos?<hr></blockquote>
Will try. Pics are scanned. But not yet uploaded. Lazy me.
But was during the haze so no great piocs really...
Most senic scenery was from Muang Ngoi about 1 hour upriver towards MK. Limestone cliffs.
Found this one the net, maybe not best pics, but gives you an idea. River is going through valley inbetween those mountains in the back on the pic:
Muang Ngoi
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