Laos forum

I'm planning on visiting similar places in Feb and also having troubles deciding exactly what to do (I've only got 2+ weeks and want to make the best of it).

From what I've read It's not really worth the time and effort to go up to Phongsali, so if I were you I would do a bit of research here on the other two. Also factor in how easily they will fit with the other places you're visiting.

Finally there is quite a bit of trekking involved on the gibbon experience, and also trekking opportunities around Luang Prabang.

Hopefully somebody who has actually been to Laos can give you some better advice!

near Luang Namtha/Muang Sing + fewer tourists = Muang Long
excellent description here: http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/laos/8026_muang-long

there's also trekking from Oudomxay, an area which is 'heavily ignored' or even 'studiously avoided' by most tourists just because guidebooks describe the town as boring...but Oudomxay is not just one town but an entire province...

likewise, Phongsaly is not just one town but an entire province that includes Muang Khua & Boun Tai...there is trekking from both places, just that for Boun Tai you'll have to contact the tourism office in Phongsaly town (check contact info here http://phongsali.net/) to make arrangements. MK is ~3+h from Oudomxay town by relatively good paved road, Boun Tai is ~6h from Oudomxay town (roughly 2/3 of the journey from Oudomxay to Phongsaly town). from MK there's a beautiful boat trip down the Nam Ou river to Nong Khiaw.

many places in northern Laos are cool & foggy in January, but the fog is only in the early morning...once the sun is up it's gone & by lunchtime it can be really sunny (so-called 'T-shirt temperatures').

I could walk on my own to small hilltribe towns.

perhaps better to be accompanied by a local guide esp if you don't know much about the culture & beliefs of the hilltribes. quite a number of 'dos & don'ts'. & you can get a very different reception & experience when you go to a village alone as a total stranger vs. when you go with a local guide (i.e. no longer a stranger but an acquaintance of someone familiar to the villagers).

I agree with Cat that it's best not to just wander around in the hills and walk into villages alone, they have spirit gates sometimes and if you don't go through it you can bring bad spirits into the village and they will have to charge you a fee for the ceremony to cleanse the village (buy a pig maybe). But if a village is on a well travelled road like those on the dirt roads in the flatlands around Luang Namtha you can ride a bike thru with no problems and see a bit of hilltribe life that way. The waterfall outside Luang Namtha isn't much to see but the village there has hand crafted products for sale and you can walk there from L. Namtha town. You might even be lucky to see the women making paper and washing it in the river.