Luang Namtha

Introduction

Ricefileds in Luang Namtha

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There are technically two towns which make up Luang Namtha: the new town and the old town. The new town contains most of the tourist attractions and guesthouses, while the old town is home to the airport and boat landing. Most people visit Luang Namtha for the beautiful surrounding area and to go trekking through the Nam Ha Protected Area, a nature reserve near Luang Namtha.

Sights and Activities

• The Luang Nam Tha Museum - Houses collections of local clothing, Buddha images and bronze drums.
• Trekking, kayaking and rafting in the Nam Ha Protected Area.
• Guided mountain bike rides
• Wat Ban Vieng Tai & Wat Ban Luang Khon - 2 fifty-year-old wats in the old town
• That Phum Phuk - hilltop stupa
• Minority Villages are possible to visit at many of the Khmu, Thai Lu,Thai Dam, or Lenten villages

Events and Festivals

Getting There

By Bus

• From Vientiane - 1 bus per day - 19 hours ~ US$14
• From Luang Prabang - 1 bus per day - 8 hours ~ US$7

By Plane

By Train

By Car

By Boat

Getting Around

By Taxi

• To/from the airport ~ US$4
• To/from the boat landing ~ US$5

By Bike

Can be rented for US$0.30 per hour or US$1 per day.

By Public Transport

By Foot

Eat

Most restaurants are in the new town. There is also a market near the bus station that serves street food.

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

• Internet Cafe - US$1.80 per hour
• KNT Internet - US$1.80 per hour

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The country code for Laos is 856. To dial out of the country, the international access code is 00. There are plenty of public phone booths in Laos but these are pretty useless as phonecards are no longer sold and the technology is rather archaic. For long distance calls it's much better to use a post office or internet cafe. The best place however is the local Telecom Office.

Mobile phone users can use their own GSM mobile phone in Laos. Roaming tends to be expensive, so if you're planning on using your phone a fair bit it may well be worth buying a local SIM card and purchasing prepaid minutes. SIMs are normally around US$5 and both Lao Telecom and ETL have good network coverage.

Post

Post Offices is open 8:00am to noon and 1:00pm to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday. For the best postal services, send your mail from Vientiane as the post in the provinces is less reliable. In general it takes anywhere from 1 to over 2 weeks to send post to/from Laos. If you are going to Thailand, post from there as it's more reliable and faster. If you are worried about sending home valuable items there is a Federal Express office inside the main post office in Vientiane. You might also check possibilities with companies like DHL, TNT or UPS.