From Jinghong to Chiang Rai via Luang Nan Tha Huay Xai

Hi,

Here's was I would do if I was you. There is a daily bus from Jinghong to Luang Namtha. Take it! It leaves Jinghong at about 10am, and gets to Luang Namtha about 5-6 in the afternoon. This bus will either drop you off at the main bus station in Luang Namtha (about 10km out of town) or it will drop you off in the center of town. You'll have more choice of hotels and food in the center of town, but if you don't want to make the trek, there's a cheap hotel next to the bus station, and a choice of food in the bus station itself. Spend the night in Luang Namtha.

There are occasionally direct buses from Luang Namtha to Chiang Rai, but you're unlikely to find one at a convenient time. Instead, take a Luang Namtha - Huai Xai bus. There are something like 3 or 4 of these buses every day. If you want to cross straight into Thailand, you can either get off at the bus station and look for a tuk-tuk there, or get off at the turn-off to the border and start walking. It's roughly 5km from the turn-off to Laos immigration.

Another option would be to try and catch the Huai Xai-Chiang Rai bus. When I was last in Huai Xai, there were two such buses a day, including one in the afternoon. They leave from a different bus station to the bus station that the Huai Xai-Luang Namtha use. The two bus stations are about 1km apart.

Otherwise, get to Laos immigration, catch a mandatory bus across the bridge to Thai immigration, and voila, you're in Thailand. If you want to head straight to Chiang Rai, then walk/hitch-hike the 4km or so from Thai immigration to the main highway. There's a bus (coming from Chiang Khong) to Chiang Rai roughly every 30 minutes or so, and they'll stop for you if you stand on the side of the road and wave at them.

Doing it like this, you should have no problem making Jinghong-Chiang Rai in two days, with a night spent in a comfortable bed in Luang Namtha, rather than on a bus.

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