Where am I again?
Region: Northern Laos> Province: Luang Nam Tha> Location: Xieng Kok

Getting There and Away

Bus

There is no bus station or official bus stop in Xieng Kok, and only one road in or out - to Muang Long and Muang Sing. Arriving buses usually stop near the boat landing and border checkpoint, which is about halfway between the two best guesthouse options in town: the Xieng Kok Resort and Khemkhong Guesthouse.

Departing buses will drive through town looking for passengers, so the general rule is to stand out on the street until one comes past. One bus driver, who is scheduled to depart at around 7 or 8am everyday lives next door to Khemkhong, so you can always go and hang around there. Although all the locals say there are numerous departures starting at about 7am, in truth this depends entirely on the number of passengers. After a fruitless tour around town, an 8am departure can turn into 10am, which in turn can turn into repairs to the bus and your spending the night in Xieng Kok. If there are no passengers and you have no time to wait, then an option is to pay for the whole bus. Negotiation skills will influence the price you pay, as will the cost of petrol, the number of other passengers, and the likelihood of picking up more on the way. A ballpark figure of $15-$20 can probably be expected. The public bus cost to Muang Long is 7,000 kip (about 3 hours) and to Muang Sing is 20,000 kip (5 hours).

The scenery along the way is some of the most lovely in Laos, emerald rice paddies and small Akha villages. Both on the bus and beside the road are plenty of locals dressed in their traditional outfits.

Boat

The boat ride to Huay Xai on the Mekong River is beautiful, but the rocket boats that do the journey are considered quite dangerous. There is no public service between the two towns, so you have to pay for the whole boat yourself. To get a boat you have to go down to the landing and find a driver, and then negotiate the price, which can be rather trying as they are very used to tourists arriving with only one day on their visa left urgently needing to leave. Time is on their side and they have been known to exploit this fact mercilessly. Generally it costs about 3,000 baht to go down, which takes about 4 hours by fast boat. Sometimes boats will only go as far as Ban Mom, where onward passage should not be difficult to find.

Occasionally slow trading boats also make the journey, and it is sometimes possible to pay for passage at least part of the way to Huay Xai. While this would be a much cheaper option, it does not happen very often and you may have to wait in Xieng Kok for days if not weeks for a boat to arrive. Some reports say people have been able to take the Chinese freighter ferries to Ban Mom for around 400 baht. It is not possible for foreigners to cross in China or Burma from Xieng Kok.