Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Vanpisit Guesthouse
In the centre of town on the main strip 023 700084.
If you need
to crash in Kasi, this clean and central place is the best bet. There are three buildings: one
is a block that's usually reserved for Chinese and Vietnamese workers and is in consider-
ably worse condition than the other two. The restaurant out front is a popular stop for VIP
buses trave
lling to L
uang Prabang, and there are a handful of Western dishes on offer (around
20,000K).
100,000K
Vieng Kham
Perched on a narrow mountain ridge 39km north of Kasi and just 5km before Phou Khoun,
the village of
VIENG KHAM
offers good views to the west of one of Laos's most magni-
ficent
peaks
- a gigantic, lone 2097-metre crag that rises like a giant tooth out of the flat-
lands below. If you're travelling south, Vieng Kham affords the first view of this breathtaking
peak and its more distant companion, which stands at an equally impressive 2089m. Whether
you're travelling north or south on Route 13, it's well worth getting a window seat on the
west-facing side of the bus in order to photograph these spectacular peaks. South of Vieng
Kham there's a long, slow winding descent towards Kasi.
Phou Khoun and Route 7 to Phonsavan
A former French outpost, the mountain village of
PHOU KHOUN
, 44km north of Kasi, is
the junction of Route 13 and Route 7. The village has sweeping views of the deep valleys
below, and is the main market for people living in isolated villages around the area. Given
the mountain location, be warned that the weather can get quite chilly here.
From Phou Khoun,
Route 7
branches off from Route 13 and travels due east across the Xi-
eng Khuang Plateau to
Phonsavan
on the Plain of Jars. This road has been greatly improved
in recent years, making it possible to get all the way from Vientiane to Phonsavan in around
ten hours, although picking up one of these daily buses at Phou Khoun can prove to be an
ordeal: by the time the bus gets here from Vientiane, it is packed, so chances are you'll be
standing all the way unless another passenger is prepared to sell you their seat.
PHOU PHANANG NBCA
Phou Phanang NBCA
runs close to Route 13 for 75km, but although tracks lead into the
reserve off Route 13, the NBCA is still fairly inaccessible to tourists. However, if you're
prepared to rent a four-wheel-drive vehicle or dirt bike from Vientiane, you could try a dirt
track running the entire western boundary of the reserve and linking several villages.
