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It’s about 600 m from any sort of tourist restaurant or tour office, with seven bungalows on the Nam Ou river: five bamboo thatch and two concrete rooms downstairs. Yes, the bamboo bungalows have a balcony. Yes, the balcony has a hammock. Yes, from the hammock is a fantastic unobstructed view.

Simple rooms with a good mattress. Photo: Cindy Fan

The inside of the bamboo bungalow is great: simple, clean and tidy, with solid wooden floor boards underneath. Beds are topped with clean white sheets and have a mosquito net and bedside table. The tile and concrete bathroom sports an electric heated shower and a bucket should you prefer cold bucket shower. WiFi is available, in theory, not always in practice.

There’s a few things that may not be for every one. It is in a more local part of town, directly behind the Secondary School, on the same dirt river road at Nam Ou River Lodge. When school is in session, it is very noisy. Secondly, the bungalows are on their own with no security gate or person guarding. Unlike a typical family guesthouse, where the family lives on site, their house is on the main road (by the way, this is where you check in first). There are security bars on the window but we’d be more wary than usual about leaving any sort of valuables. Finally, we love that it’s away from the tourist strip, however keep in mind that there’s no street lighting so expect to be walking back from dinner in the dark.

Swing in a hammock and wave to your neighbours. Photo: Cindy Fan

If all that sounds reasonable to you, then Pho Sai is a cute little place to slide into a hammock and relax. The owner speaks English, an added bonus.