Muang Kham

Bus

The bus system in Muang Kham is not very organised. A bus station in the centre of town sees songthaews and the odd, ancient bus congregate to wait for passengers but there is no timetable, no ticket seller, and no one who can give a final answer about anything. Most songthaews depart for the surrounding areas on a regular basis throughout the morning, when they have enough passengers.

Regular songthaews and the odd bus travel between Muang Kham and Phonsavan (1 per hour, 13,000 kip).

There are also fairly regular departures throughout the morning for Nong Het on the Vietnamese border. These generally come from Phonsavan and just pass through Muang Kham, so it's necessary to be watchful. The same goes for the bus to Sam Neua. This comes through via Phonsavan, from Vientiane. It is expected any time from 16:00 onwards, with tickets costing 70,000 kip, and the trip typically takes 7-9 hours.

A songthaew to Sam Neua does the journey by day -- again commencing from Phonsavan, passing through Muang Kham at around 09:00-10:00, and costing 50,000 kip. But unless you've scored the front passenger seat, even the most stunning scenery is unlikely to be a sufficient distraction from 7 or 8 hours in the back of a covered truck.

Two buses per day come through from Sam Neua, and will travel via Phonsavan on their way to Vientiane. They arrive vaguely around 16:00 and 19:00.