Saturday, 1 September 2018

MUANG KHUA  -  25th Mar. 2015  to  5th Apr. 2015

Muang Khua is located at the confluence of the Nam Ou and Nam Phak rivers. It is also on the road, comming from the Vietnamese border, that continues into the interior of Laos.

As the country does not have a very good road network, the river transport of people and goods continues to be a relatively efficient means of transport today.

View of Muang Khua from the riberside of Nam Ou

Even this small town is in a strategic location, life in this place is very calm. We were positively surprised by this tranquility when we arrived at this town. No one was bothering us to sell us something, there were no annoying taxi drivers, no one insisting us to stay on a certain accommodation. We almost couldn't believe it. What a big change compared to the rest of the places we had visited until then! We fell in love immediately with this place.

Until now, we had always looked for accommodation over the internet before reaching a new place, or we had references from other travelers. But in the case of Muang Khua, this was not possible due to the lack of information on the internet. Therefore, when we got off the bus, one of us stayed with the backpacks, while the other went to look foraccommodation. After a while, we finally decided to stay on a guesthouse next to the place where the bus left us. The place looked very new and we felt really like at home.

Doinouboun Guest House

This is what we called the "Town center". In the background you can see our accommodation

Although the town itself had nothing spectacular to see, we finally stayed there for 10 days. It was like our "holydays" to relax and get some energy.

Here we show you some pictures about our stay in that Village:

View from the Nam Phak, with the hanging bridge in the background

Hanging bridge over the Nam Phak river

Jack fruit tree

Party procession from our balcony

Fabrics for the typical skirts

Once a week the streets are filled with people to play some kind of lottery

Finally we could see a gecko, until now we had only heard them

Waiting for lunch at our favorite restaurant

Views over the Nam Ou from the restaurant


Since we have seen that there is not much information about Laos, we have planned to make a small information box at the end of each post, with some data that may be useful for travellers.


Muang Khua
Trans­port­ation : from: Sa Pa
 
to:   Muang Khua
Sleeping bus + minibus 
 
Journey: 15 hors
 
430000 VND / Person
 
(Approx. 20€ / Pers.)
 
Trans­port­ation : from: Muang Khua

to:   Muang Ngoi
River boat
 
Journey: 5 hors 
 
100000 Kip / Person
 
(Approx. 12€ / Pers.)
 
Accom­modation : Doinou­boun
Gest House
Cleen and new.
Private bathroom and internet
 
80000 Kip / double room
 
(Approx. 10€)
 
Pictures :

Doinouboun Guest House


Thursday, 22 March 2018

LAOS - Visas & Borders

Entrance by land, via  Tay Trang / Pang Hok    ( Sa Pa ‑ Muang Khua )


JOURNEY :

Sa Pa and Muang Khua are about 200 km away in a straight line, equivalent to about 400 km of roads and about 15 hours of travel (as long as there are no problems).

To do this, it is necessary to change bus in Dien Bien Phu, a small city a just before reaching the border. From here, very early in the morning, is where the minibus to Muang Khua departs.

To get to Dien Bien Phu, there are basically two combinations to go: either in a minibus that leaves in the morning from Sa Pa, and arrives in the evening at Dien Bien Phu, or take a night bus with bunk beds that departs at night from Sa Pa, reaching Dien Bien Phu just in time to take the minibus Direction Laos.

We opted for the option of the night bus for several reasons: We had heard from other travelers that the minibus, which is not particularly big, could get overcrowded with more passengers than seats. On the other hand, if we took the night bus, we could save one night. In addition, the price of one option or the other, was not very different.

This route is not very frequented by tourists, therefore there is no excessive information. So, you have to look very well with whom the service is contracted. Not only because of the difference in prices (for exactly the same service), but also because of the guarantees of trust they give you.

After asking and comparing many places, we decided to buy it through our accommodation, the Sapa Backpacker Hostel, which made us a very good price, 430.000 Dong (about 20€) per person, and they guaranteed us all connections from the hotel door until our final destination, as well as, that the bus from ;Dien Bien Phu to Muang Khua would not leave until we arrived.

The journey was as agreed. The taxi from the hotel to the "bus station" of Sa Pa was also included in the ticket price. In addition, the receptionist of the hostel followed us on a motorbike to make sure everything went correctly. She also was in telephone contact with the bus driver to make sure that they would pick us up, which was very much appreciated, because otherwise, we would have been quite afraid, because it didn't look like a Bus would ever come to this place they call "bus station".

The bus was old and did not smell very good, we imagined it even worse, so for us it was ok. Before it became dark outside, we could enjoy the breathtaking views of the mountains (and the cliffs!) that surrounded us We arrived at Dien Bien Phu just before sunrise. The bus stopped on the outskirts of the town, next to a small roadside bar, in the middle of the nowhere. There, they tried to explain us that we should not worry about anything, although that, we were a bit worried. But after a while, a car arrived, which took us to the bus station and told us which was the minibus we had to take. As we arrived relatively early, we even were able to get a decent seat.


MONEY :

Another very important issue when crossing from Vietnam to Laos is the money. Neither the Vietnam Dong, nor the Laos Kip are traded on the international markets. It is for this reason that it is practically impossible to exchange these currencies outside of their respective countries.

Although, it is true that it is possible to exchange Dongs for Kips in border towns, such as Dien Bien Phu, this did not help us much, since our minibus left very early in the morning, we already knew, that there would be no exchange house open at that time, so we would have had to change the money in the street, at a very unfavorable exchange rate of course. For this reason, we decided to change most of our dongs for dollars in Sa Pa, and keep just some little money, that we would change at the street in Dien Bien Phu.


BORDER AND VISA :

The border crossing at Tay Trang / Pang Hok is located in the middle of the mountains, on a route without much traffic, therefore, there is practically no queuing at the border and everything is very relaxed.

To enter Laos it is necessary to have a visa, which can be purchased directly at the border as a Visa on arrival. Its official price is 35 US dollar. As always, it is convenient to have the exact amount in this currency.

The entrance border to Laos, is a little house, with several windows. Here you must hand in your passport, as well as the completed form they give you and a photo. Then they issue you the visa and you pay the official 35 dollar for the visa, plus some extra "tax".


Once these procedures were completed, the road went down to Muang Khua, where our minibus dropped us of on the main road, just at the center of this small town.




Saturday, 24 February 2018

SA PA  -  19th Mar. 2015  to  24th Mar. 2015

 

At the mountains of northern Vietnam, near the border with China, we find Sa Pa. A small city set in the mountains, about 1500 meters above sea level. Here is one of the main markets in the area, therefore many people from all the surrounding villages come here, to buy and sell their products.

The colorful tribal dresses and the hiking and trekking that can be done in the area, attract many travelers. To us, those mountain landscapes, reminded us a bit to Austria.













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All tourist accommodations and travel agencies try to sell trekkings around the area, but the people of the tribes also offer to guide you and stay at their home. So we found this last option more interesting and we opted for a trekking to a village of the H'Mong tribe.










































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