Hat Sa
Travel Guide
The small village of Hat Sa fronts onto the brown waters of the Nam Ou River in the far north of Laos. There is just one reason why it sits on traveller's itineraries -- Hat Sa sits on the bank of the Nam Ou river and is connected by road to Phongsali, the provincial capital and the main traveller's centre of Phongsali province (not that that's saying much).
While the area is lovely and ripe for exploration, the vast majority of visitors pass up on the chance to stay in Hat Sa while travelling between Phongsali and Muang Khua. Those that do decide to stay obviously have an awful lot of spare time on their hands.
There is only one truck per day which travels the one-hour, 20km journey between Hat Sa and its more popular neighbour. This means that if your boat from Muang Khua arrives in late, or if there are no more boats available for departure when you arrive from Phongsali, then you're destined for a night in Hat Sa.
Should you find yourself stranded, don't fret -- as there are two extremely basic guesthouses, a couple of noodle soup shops and one small restaurant -- what more do you need! There is still no regular electricity so you'll be hitting the hay early after the electricity watershed at approximately 21:00..
The locals tend to be delighted when people stay instead of pushing straight on to Phongsali, so if you're prepared to make an effort with your phrasebook or have a way with sign language, then you're in for a treat.
Accommodation: General
Boun Ma Restaurant and Guesthouse |
Wanna Guesthouse |
Text and/or map last updated on 14th November, 2012.
Jump to a different destination in Laos
Get orientated with a map of Hat Sa, Laos
Have your say
Photo gallery
Add your photos to this via Flickr More info
Jump to a destination
- Hot spots
- Vientiane & surrounds
- Northern Laos
- Southern Laos
Onward travel
-
Hat Sa
Phongsali
Boun Neua
Muang Khua
Dien Bien Phu (Vietnam)
Muang La
Muong Lay (Vietnam)
Luang Nam Tha
Muang Sing
Udomxai
Muang Ngoi
The above are all within 200km of Hat Sa.
From the blogs
4000 Islands, but which one is best?
7:36 am, 18 Jun 2013
Fresh fruit in Laos
2:31 am, 13 Jun 2013
Wet markets in Laos
8:17 pm, 9 Jun 2013
Travelling with children in Laos
5:02 am, 5 Jun 2013
Review: Common Grounds Bakery and Cafe, Vientiane
7:54 pm, 1 Jun 2013
Navigating the Friendship Bridge from Thailand to Laos
7:58 pm, 28 May 2013
Champasak, southern Laos
1:48 am, 22 May 2013
Nam Phu: Vientiane’s famed fountain
9:54 pm, 18 May 2013
River transport in Laos
9:32 pm, 15 May 2013What to buy at Vientiane’s Talaat Sao (Morning Market)
4:26 am, 15 May 2013
The Cambodia blog
The Indonesia blog
The Laos blog
The Malaysia blog
The Singapore blog
The Thailand blog
The Vietnam blog
Travelfish on Facebook
Newsletter signup
Sign up for Travelfish Burp!
Our weekly wrap on Southeast Asian travel.
Click here to see a recent newsletter.

Hat Sa reviews
Backchat from the Travelfish community
Not a soul has had a thing to say about this place -- why don't you get the ball rolling?