Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: XIENG MEN AND CHOMPHET
DISTRICT
By boat
A frequent vehicle ferry (10,000K/person, bikes free, motorbikes 10,000K) runs
between Luang Prabang and Xieng Men, leaving from the vehicle ferry landing behind the
Royal Palace Museum. For around 20,000K you could also strike a deal with one of the boat-
men along the riverbank to be dropped at the main Xieng Men ferry landing and picked up
(assuming the river is high enough) below Wat Long Khoun.
Tourist office
Chomphet district's helpful but poorly signed tourist office (Mon-Fri
8-11.30am & 1.30-4pm; 030 991 0424) is a few hundred metres north of the boat landing;
head up to the top of the hill, turn right along the dirt road to Ban Nakham and it's on your
right (opposite a temple).
GETTING AROUND
Bike rental
Mountain bikes can be rented in Xieng Men for 50,000K/day, or you can bring
one on the ferry.
Tours
Tours around Chomphet can be arranged with the Chomphet tourist office. You can
also contact Mr Bounmy, the local tourism officer, out of hours ( 020 5435 9232). A two-
day trek, including guide, food and homestay, will cost from $35/person.
Across the Nam Khan
In the dry season, two bamboo bridges ford the river, one below Wat Pha Phoutthabat (8am-6pm; 5000K),
which emerges at
Dyen Sabai
,
the other at the tip of the peninsula; in wet season and by bike, cross the motor-
cycle bridge 500m east of Wat Visoun and turn left at the first big intersection
Although a long walk along the Mekong foreshore and even around the point and back down
along the Nam Khan is considered
de rigueur
on any walking tour of the old city, compar-
atively few tourists make the short hop across the river to the
opposite shore of the Nam
Khan
. Here, facing the old city, you can follow (on foot or by bike) the banks of the river to
the confluence with the Mekong and then continue along the Mekong shore through several
small villages, which see relatively few foreign faces, all the way up to
Ban Don
, where the
slow- and speedboat landings are located.
Along the way you can visit a string of old
wats
and
monasteries
, including charmingly
worn
Wat Phan Luang
, directly opposite
Dyen Sabai
; atmospheric and partly ruined
Wat
PaKha
, which lies a little to the north; and - another 500m on - modern
WatPhonsaat
, be-
hind which you can garner superb views back across the Nam Khan towards the old city. It's
worth continuing at least as far as the handicraft village of
Ban Xang Khong
, 1km further
north, where you can stop at the family workshops of weavers and mulberry-paper makers
(including a branch of
SA Paper Handicrafts
), and there are a couple of simple cafés serving
noodle soup and baguettes.
