The far north - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 270

breakfast. Apple or banana pancakes are excellent (20,000K), and big bowls of fried rice go
from 20,000K. Daily 6am-9pm.
Phongsaly Hotel In the centre of town 088 210042. The large, impersonal restaurant on
the ground floor of this hotel has a rather mysterious Chinese menu that includes psychedelic-
sounding dishes such as “wool blood flourishing” and “sauce detonation eggplant”. For the
less adventurous, there are plenty of other options, including plain old “bad pepper fried beef”
(30,000K). Huge portions. Daily 6.30am-9.30pm.
Yeehua Near the market 088 210186. Attached to Phongsali's cheapest guesthouse, this
no-frills but very friendly restaurant may be the only place in town serving Lao dishes - the
pork larp (35,000K) is very tasty, but watch out for the chillies. Daily 6.30am-9.30pm.
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Phongsali to Oudomxai
The road between Phongsali and Oudomxai has improved in recent years, though sections
of the eight-hour journey are still bone-shaking. They're mitigated by the stunning scenery,
however, and on the way you will stop at a couple of small towns - Boun Neua and Boun
Tai - which can be used as alternative trekking bases to Phongsali.
This road passes through some prime Akha territory , and the tribal women use the thor-
oughfare to hike between villages and conduct trade. A few of the villages actually straddle
the road and afford fleeting snapshots of Akha life: women displaying glittering headdresses
and betel-stained smiles, men shouldering long-barrelled muskets, and gaggles of gaping kids
clad only in a layer of ochre-coloured dust. You may find that your bus driver stops to buy
(or for his passengers to buy) various furry mammals (such as civet cats, bamboo rats and
porcupines), which are hung up like prizes at the side of the road, and generally bought to
be eaten. It may not be particularly appetizing to the Western eye (or, indeed, legal) but it's a
fascinating glimpse of rural life that you don't necessarily experience elsewhere in the coun-
try.
The northern taste for exotic wild meats reaches its zenith at Pak Nam Noi , a tiny cross-
roads village, 136km south of Phongsali, but just 33km west of Muang Khoua ; twice a month
(around the full- and half-moons) it hosts a special morning market, which you should avoid
if you're prone to squeamishness. South of Pak Nam Noi, the road follows the forested valley
of the Nam Phak river through mainly Khmu villages to beautiful Muang La , 28km north of
Oudomxai.
Boun Neua
With Phongsali town hemmed in by mountains with limited scope for expansion, small, un-
lovely BOUN NEUA , 41km west, is the unlikely new recipient of provincial capital status.
The principally Tai Leu town sits crucially close to the Chinese border and is developing as