Introduction Muang Sing is a pleasant village not far from the Chinese border with many traditional people in and around the village: Akha, Hmong, Thai Dam, Lii...
Muang Sing is also a good place to do hiking trips to those villages. You can go on a trekking from 1 to 7 days.
In this area, there's a lot of opium production.
Accommodation During the last year, a lot of new guesthouses have opened their doors, most of them charging a bit the same price.
We stayed at the Viengxai guesthouse for 5000 Kipp pp. The room was clean with bathroom and mosquitonet. There was a terrace on the roof.
We heard the same reports about Singthon guesthouse and Vieng Phon guesthouse. Just walk down the road and you'll find plenty of similar guesthouses. If you walk across the river out of town (direction China), you'll find after 1 km a guesthouse built in chalet style. They are very nice with own bathroom, nice view and they charge 8000 Kipp pp.
Adima guesthouse is still further away (5 km). They have beautiful lodges, nice views, private bathroom and good hiking for only 15.000 Kipp pp. There's a bus in the morning from the Viengxai guesthouse to the Adima.
Restaurants The food in Viengxai guesthouse is very good. Traditional and Western dishes with Chinese beer go for about 10.000 Kipp pp. They also have good breakfasts.
Most of the other restaurants also have a little restaurant.
There's a market in the center of town where you can buy some food. At night some locals make very good waffles.
What to do There's an exhibition on the hilltribes in the German community center.
Trekkings You can go on a trekking for a couple of days and visit the surrounding hill tribes. There are several guides in town. You can find one opposite the Viengxai guesthouse. They charge 10 US$ a day which is very expensive given the fact that the normal monthly wage in Laos is 25 US$. On top of that, you have to take care of your own food and water.
A nice trip is the one to the Adima guesthouse. This is a wonderful place. They give maps and tips about the area, and they have a small guide with walking routes to the nearby villages. You find a copy of this booklet here.
To get there, you can rent a bike in Muang Sing (4000 Kipp pp) and take the road to China. After 5 to 6 km, you'll see a sign on your right to Adima. Cross the river and leave your bikes in the guesthouse. Walks go from 4 to 8 hours. You can also buy handicrafts there.
Getting out
To Luang Nan Tha
There are pick ups to Luang Nan Tha twice daily for around 8000 Kipp pp on a very bad road. One also goes to Udomxai for around 15.000 Kipp pp. We couldn't find this one, so we had to make a stop first in Luang Nan Tha first and then take the connection to Udomxai.
To Xieng Kok (border with Myanmar)
I also wrote the Myanmar chapter of this site. Until now, I never heard from someone crossing the border into Myanmar here without flying. However, there are some stories that some travellers crossed this border and have gotten a visa for 28 days (if you have done it, please contact me). Remember that this is an opium smuggling area in both directions. Once you have crossed the border, you don't have a permit for that area. There is no connecting road, so it'll take you quite a while to reach Keng Tung (Myanmar). Beware of police and army checks. So if you want to go to Myanmar safely, I advise to go to Chiang Mai and take a plane to Bagan from there.
UPDATES 2001:
Transportation
· To Luang Namtha, with bus or songthaew from busstation, 10.000 Kip, 2 hours.
Lodging
· Muang Sing Guesthouse, 15.000 Kip/room, in mainstreet, 200m from busstation, very sympathic Chinese woman, cold water but she gives you hot water in thermoscan.
· Adima Guesthouse, 8 km from centrum, 30.000 of 40.000 Kip for a bungalow, in the middle of hilltribes and ricefields.
Excursions.
· In Adima GH you can buy a map (7.000 Kip) with a hiking-routes to surrounding hilltribes. Looks Ok, but the building of this GH has become a real culture-disaster for the villages…. Don’t give pens to the children, keep your camera in your pocket and "keep smiling" !
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