Northern Thailand - Thailand - page 681

Wat Nong Bua
The neat and tidy Thai Lü village of Nong Bua, near the town of Tha Wang Pha, approx-
imately 30km north of Nan, is famous for the Lü-style Wat Nong Bua ( daylight hours)
. Featuring a typical two-tiered roof and carved wooden portico, the wí·hăhn design is
simple yet striking - note the carved naga heads at the roof corners. Inside the wí·hăhn are
rustic but beautiful jataka murals thought to have been painted by Thit Buaphan, the same
mural artist whose work can be seen at Wat Phumin. Be sure to leave a donation at the al-
tar for the temple's upkeep and restoration.
There is a model Thai Lü house directly behind the wát where weaving is done and you
can buy attractive local textiles.
Nong Bua is about 30km north of Nan. To get there, take a northbound bus or
sŏrng·tăa·ou (35B) to Tha Wang Pha. Get off at Samyaek Longbom, walk west to a bridge
over Mae Nam Nan and turn left. Continue until you reach another small bridge, after
which Wat Nong Bua will be on your right. It's a long 3km from the highway to the wát.
GETTING TO LAOS: BAN HUAY KON TO MUANG NGEUN
Located 140km north of Nan, Ban Huay Kon is a sleepy village in the mountains near the Lao border. There's a
fun border market on Saturday mornings, but most will come here because of the town's status as an international
border crossing to Laos.
Getting to the Border To Ban Huay Kon, there are four daily minivans originating in Phrae and stopping in Nan
at 5am, 6.50am, 8am and 9.30am (100B, three hours). If you miss one of these, the only other option is to hop on
a bus from Nan to Pon (85B, 2½ hours, hourly from 6am to 6pm), at which point you'll need to transfer to the in-
frequent sŏrng·tăa·ou that go the remaining 30km to Ban Huay Kon (100B, one hour, from 9am to 6pm). In the
opposite direction, minivans bound for Nan (100B, three hours) and Phrae (180B, five hours) leave Ban Huay
Kon at 9.45am, 11.45am, 12.45pm and 2.15pm, while the only scheduled sŏrng·tăa·ou back to Pon departs at
1pm (100B, one hour).
At the Border After passing the Thai immigration booth ( 0 5469 3530; 8am-6pm) , foreigners can
purchase a 30-day visa for Laos for US$30 to US$42, depending on nationality. There is an extra US$1 or 50B
charge after 4pm and on weekends.
Moving On You can then proceed 2.5km to the Lao village of Muang Ngeun, where you could stay at the
Phouxay Guesthouse ( 020-2214 2826; r 60,000K) , or, if you're heading onward, to the tiny Passenger
Car Station ( 020-244 4130, 020-245 0145) beside the market, from where sŏrng·tăa·ou leave for Hongsa
(40,000K, 1½ hours) between 2pm and 4pm, and to Pak Kaen (35,000K, one hour) at around 7.30am and 2pm ar-
riving in time for the Mekong slow boats to Huay Xai and Pak Beng respectively. Once the new bridge north of
Pakbeng is open, there will also be a bus service and ostensibly, more frequent transport links.