The northeast - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 235

SamneuaHotel Just east of the river on Route 6 020 509 4444. This grand peach-coloured
building is well located on the eastern edge of the river. All rooms are en suite and have TVs,
though they can feel rather crampe d owing to the large, decorative wooden beds. There's a
popular restaurant around the back. 100,000K
Xayphasouk Hotel South of the monument on the road to the bus station 020 5576 6644,
[e-mail] . This glass-fronted hotel has the most expensive rooms in
town, but is also one of the few buildings with warm rooms during the winter. The doubles
here are smart and business-like, with gle aming floors and free wi-fi. The staff are helpful,
though limited English is spoken. 150,000K
EATING AND DRINKING
Sam Neua is no place for fine dining, but it has a couple of half-decent places for a bite to
eat. Expect to wait a while for your food - most places are just a two-person operation. In
addition to the restaurants listed here, you could try the northern end of the food market,
where half-a-dozen ladies sell steaming hot fõe with or without meat from the adjacent stalls
(10,000-15,000K). On the road running north of the tourist office you'll find a few BBQ
places, which grill chicken nightly.
Chittavanh North of Khaemxam, on the river 061 213777. On the ground floor of the
guesthouse of the same name, Chittavanh does reasonable noodle soups with duck or beef
(both 15,000K)and some cheap Western options, allowing you to piece together a simple
breakfast. At night, it's popular with Chinese drinkers. Daily 6.30am-11pm.
Dannaomuangxam Just west of Bounhome on Route 6 020 2880 2887. This family-run
place is a good choice throughout the day, serving cornflakes and fried eggs for breakfast,
and tasty pork and chicken soups for dinner (20,000K). Daily 7am-11pm.
Phou Pha Thi
35km northwest of Sam Neua ∙ Contact the Sam Neua tourist office for information about reaching the moun-
tain, though renting a motorbike may be your best bet
Phou Pha Thi , a 1786m-high limestone mountain, is the tallest peak in northern Hua Phan
and the most distinctive mountain in the province: a broad-based massif, with a near-vertical
summit. The Nam Xam river, which flows through the centre of Sam Neua and all the way to
the Gulf of Tonkin, runs directly down from the peak's southern flanks.
Phou Pha Thi is famous for being an important Lima Site during the Second Indochina
War when the CIA and Special Forces set up a navigation radar tower on the summit. As this
secret mountain base, run by the CIA and guarded by three hundred Thai mercenaries, was in
the very heart of Pathet Lao territory, the story of its eventual capture and destruction is the
stuff of local legend (see The fall of Phou Pha Thi ). Note that you can't actually climb the
mountain at present.