A Riverside Guest House
in the Luang Namtha Valley

Languages: English and French

LODGING:
The Boat Landing Guest House and Restaurant is the premier ecotourism lodge in Luang Namtha, Laos' northwestern most province, with access to the Nam Ha National Biosphere Conservation Area, the Namtha River and Lao hill tribe villages for rafting, trekking, and handicraft trips. Our restaurant serves local Lao food with a large selection of vegetarian choices. We are located 6 kms from the provincial town and just 1 km from the airport. After a day out and about you can come back and relax in comfort and style. On the banks of the Namtha, enjoy genuine Luang Namtha cuisine in our open verandah restaurant while watching life by the river.

Our bungalows are constructed with local materials in a local Lao style adapted for your comfort and pleasure. Lounge on your verandah in a grassy acacia grove, watch locals fish for their evening meal, children swimming and boats passing up and down the river. Our rooms aspire to tastefully combine local tradition while providing the guests the comforts of home. Each room has a modern bathroom outfitted with solar hot water. Go to your nightly rest soothed by the evening breeze and the night sounds of the river.

EXCURSIONS:
There is more to seen Luang Namtha than your guide book may tell you. From the Boat Landing you can discover the nature and peoples of Luang Namtha. We provide reliable tourist information and we can assist you to plan your stay according to your own special interests. We can offer:

• bicycles for rent
• English and French speaking guides
• boat trips on the Namtha River
• picnics
• fishing trips
• inner tubes for floating on the river
• trekking to ethnic minority villages

Luang Namtha has a large and diverse ethnic groups many of whom still live traditional life styles. The main ethnic groups in the area are Tai Yuan, Black Red and White Tai, Tai Lue, Khmu, Rok, Ahka, Lanten, Mien and Hmong. Most of the ethnic handicraft traditions are alive and well.

The Nam Ha National Biodiversity Conservation Area offers plenty of opportunity for ecotourism, Birdwatchers, naturalists and those just looking for the outdoors will find intact primary tropical forest and wildlife in abundance.

HOW TO FIND US:
Luang Namtha Province is the northwestern province of the Lao PDR. Luang Namtha is bordered on the north by China and on the west by the Shan State of Burma. To the south is Bokeo Province and to the east Udomsai Province.

There are several routes by which visitors reach Luang Namtha. Lao Aviation has regular flights between Luang Namtha and Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Houeisai. Many visitors travel overland from Houeisai, Luang Prabang and from China via the international checkpoint at Botene. From Luang Prabang you can reach Namtha in ten hours by car or in three days by boat. Depending on the road conditions you can reach Luang Namtha from Bokeo Province in a day or two days by boat up the Namtha River.

The Boat Landing Guest House is located at the Namtha River boat landing in Ban Kone about 1 km from the airport and 6 kms from the main town.

TREKKING:
The Nam Ha Ecotourism Project has trained local guides to lead 1 and 2 day treks into the Nam Ha NBCA. The treks take small groups of travelers into the NBCA and the local villages in a environmentally and culturally sensitive way. The local guides work with the villages to develop a unique trekking experience. The trek offers a great opportunity to visit traditional villages, trek through diverse forests and to support local resource conservation efforts. The trekking fees benefit the NBCA, the local villages and the local guides. The fee includes food, water, transport, guides, lodging and the trekking permit.

Treks leave every Wednesday and Saturday, departing in the morning. Groups are limited to 4 - 8 persons. An information session on the trek is given ever Tuesday and Friday evenings at 5:00 PM at the guide association office located around the corner from the Saikonglongsack Guest House.

DO-IT-YOURSELF WALKS N MUANG SING
These walking trails descriptions were adapted from a leaflet distributed at Adima Guest House & Restaurant in Muang Sing:

Route 1:
Adima - Nam Ded Mai - Pou Don Than - Adima: This is a short walk but very rewarding for those that only have a few hours to spare. Leave your bike at Adima and walk further up the road from Adima. Ten minutes up the road you reach Nam Ded Mai, an Akha village with 33 families. Most of them are paddy farmers. Uphill from the village, past the school, you can find their upland gardens with vegetables, corn, sugarcane and some fruit trees. From Nam Ded Mai you get a good view of Pou Don Than to your right. To get there, you will find a few small trails through the bushes that lead to Pou Don Than.

Pou Don Than is in fact a sequence of four Yao villages, all connected, but with their own name and separate village leadership. The Yao women dress very distinctively with their turbans and bright red collars. lf you walk along the main path in the village you will pass the handicraft. store.

To return to Adima you take the road leading from the clinic (a white wooden building) to the main road. This road runs more or less parallel to the road leading to Adima and Nam Ded Mai. Walk along this road down hill till Fou Pou's farm. Enter his farm through the nice gate. Fou Pou is a very hard working man. He might have some guava's, mango's or other fruit for sale. Cross the small river behind his property and then walk along the rice field bunts back to Adima.

Route 2:
Adima - Nam Ded Mai - Nam Ded Kao - Pou Don Than - Adima: Start as route 1, but in Nam Ded Mai go through the village, downhill to the lower part past the tap stand and go slightly to the left and pass the school. This train leads uphill. Passing upland fields you will be going along a mountain side - pretty steep up hill. After about 45 minutes you get to a fork. The track further up hill, towards the left leads to more upland fields. Turning right will lead you to Nam Ded Kao vintage. On clear days you get a good view of the Muang Sing valley. Follow the trail downhill and you reach Pou Don Than after about 30 minutes. Get back to Adima as described in route 1. Take a half day to do this walk. In the dry season you might want to wait till the afternoon. In the rainy season it's probably a good idea to get an early start to avoid the heat and humidity while walking uphill.

Route 3:
Adima - Pou Don Than - Paka - Lak Kham - Muang Hun, Oudomsin - Adima: After reaching Pou Don Than instead of going back to Adima, keep following the main trail through the village. After a while you can turn right, through a stream and then walk past the primary school that is on your right, situated on a small hill. Keep going along the track which will, after passing another group of Yao houses, lead you out into upland fields. There are different tracks you can choose from at different points, but if you keep walking more or less to the right you will, after about 45 minutes, reach Paka village. This Akha village has recently moved to this site. The old site can be reached with a steep up hill hike of about 30 minutes past the irrigation dam. On clear days it's worth the while because of the splendid view you have from there. At Paka village take a right following the main road that is also used by bicycles, Chinese tractors and an occasional 4WD truck. After a while you can go either right or left. Turning left leads you to Lak Kham, another Akha village. Turning right will lead you to Muang Hun, a Lao Lue village situated along the main road. To get back to Adima turn right on the main road and then take a right again at the signs at Oudomsin village.

Route 4:
Adima - Pou Don Than - Paka - Poeng Kok - SiliMoen - NaKham - Oudomsin - Adima: Instead of taking a right at Paka as in Route 3, you leave the village going a little bit more uphill towards the mountains, across an irrigation canal and then turn right. This trail leads through fields and lush forest and brings you after about 30 minutes to the Akha Village named Poeng Kok. This trail can get pretty closed-in during the rainy season. You might meet some leeches then as well. You can leave the village on the other side. Go through the village past the main village gate and turn right at the first junction. This is a wider track also used by tractors and trucks. lt leads you through paddy fields, after which you then cross the Sing river, and walk via Silimoen village to the main road. Take a right to go towards China again, across the bridge, through Na Kham, village, then along Muang Hun towards Oudomsin where you turn right at the sign to get back to Adima.

Route 5:
On the contrary to the other four walks, this walk takes you to the other (north) side of the road form Muang Sing to China. From Adima, walk back to the main road. Take a left along the main road for about 200 meters. At the end of Oudomsin village take a right. This dirt road crosses a few streams and after about 15 minutes there is a turn to the right leading to PaNja Luang village, about 30 minutes ahead. You'll pass some old big trees. Going straight instead of turning right will lead you to Pa Rhat Luang village, also an Akha village. This is about an hour's walk away. There are trails from Pa Bhat Luang leading to NaKham, but they are sometimes hard to find and in the rainy season cross over several paddy fields. Try it if you like. Choosing for a safe option means walking back the way you came.

MOUNTAIN BIKING:
Luang Namtha has mountain biking to die for - but no one knows about it! Now is the time to get out there and explore it all before it is discovered. Presently there is no place to rent mountain bikes. It is strictly for those who bring their own bikes. There are several roads in and trails in Muang Sing, Muang Long and Muang Luang Namtha which are ideal for mountain biking.

AND REMEMBER THIS:
When visiting ethnic villages you can hardly go wrong by using common courtesy. You are a guest in their village, their home. Conduct yourself accordingly. A hello, a friendly look, a gesture, modesty and a genuine concern for your host will make the experience more enjoyable for all. A personal encounter will take away the stigma of a human zoo.

One common courtesy to remember, when offered something, it is impolite to openly refuse. If you do not want the thing offered, take it, say thank you and then just leave it and put it down. If you are asked to drink alcohol and do not wish to drink, simply put the glass to your lips without taking a sip. This is a polite way of accepting your hosts hospitality.

Please do not touch items of religious or spiritual significance unless your hosts indicate that it is appropriate. When visiting Ahka villages do not pass through or touch the village gate. And refrain from breaking branches or twigs in the village or burial grounds.

Finally, when you are exploring, you need to know what it means when you see the object pictured at the left. This is a Ta-laeow. It means KEEP OUT! If you see one particularly at the entrance to a village, do not enter the village or the area it marks.