A train ride from Luang Prabang to Oudomxay via the China-Lao Railway’s HSR (Higher Speed Rail) service started my 6-day ‘Phongsali Loop’ tour, with a solo hike upon my arrival leading to memorable ethnic Khmu encounters.
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Oudomxay province is located in northwestern Laos, with Oudomxay (Muang Xay) being its capital city. Oudomxay province is bordered on its east by the provinces of (south to north) Louangprabang & Phongsali, and on its west by the provinces of (south to north) Xaignabouli, Bokeo & Luang Namtha, with its northern tip bordering China. The province is mountainous, varying in elevation from 300–1,800 m (980–5,910 ft), with the high altitudes resulting in increased annual temperature variations and a colder dry season in Oudomxay and the adjacent northern provinces relative to the rest of the country. Though precise demographic data for the approximately 14 ethnic minorities living in the province is not available, it is estimated that the population is roughly 60% Khmu, 25% Lao Loum (‘Lowland Lao’) & 15% Hmong, with the remaining percentage including ethnic Akha and Phounoi. The first people to settled in Oudomxay province around the year 700 were the ethnic Khmu, with the settling of migrant ethnic Hmong from China beginning much later in 1828. The modern province was created in 1976 when it was partitioned off from Louangprabang province, with the provincial capital was moved from Ban Nahin to Oudomxay in 1987. According to local legend, Oudomxay was originally known as Takka Sila, though in the year 1323 a group of townsmen out in the forest cutting bamboo and making fishing baskets from the wood encountered a wandering hermit monk named Paxay. The men spoke with the curious monk & offering him food, and to commemorate their unique experience they renamed the town from Takka Sila to ‘Muang Xay’ to include the monk’s name. From Luang Prabang, Oudomxay can be reached by train or by car via Road #13.
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The HSR train ride from Luang Prabang to Oudomxay was scenic from the left-side seat facing the direction of traveling, though the glimpses were brief and broken up by numerous tunnels & high embankments ( https://youtu.be/RctqnfpIBn8 ). I had time on my own between the mid morning arrival and a 4 pm guided sunset visit to the nearby hilltop Wat Phu That for solo exploring of the city on foot. The urban area around my hotel, a mix of cell phone & electronics shops, motorcycle repair shops, miscellaneous businesses and a Beerlao warehouse, was not particularly interesting. Seeing some wooded hills a walkable distance down Road #13, I headed off in that direction. Perhaps 20 minutes later around a sharp curve & past some heavy equipment on the newly-leveled bare dirt base of a hillside, the scenery became decidedly rural with views including a patchwork of crop fields, rustic houses & the Nam Ko River.
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My walk along Road #13 due northwest of the intersection with Road #2E soon turned from urban to rural environs as it roughly followed the course of the Nam Ko River, passing a couple of Lao roadhouses and a ethnic Khmu village. I stopped in front of a modern style roadside home of a friendly Khmu family that graciously allowed me to come onto their property to have a look around and take some photos and video clips of the picturesque rural view afforded by the back of their house, with a couple of friendly Khmu guys doing a bit of day drinking kindly offering me some Beer Lao on ice, which I declined assuming that the ice was made with un-purified water. On the walk back into town, I sidetracked up a dirt and gravel road through the quaint Khmu village, having some brief but pleasant interactions with the villagers before grabbing a Beer Lao and some snacks at one of the roadhouses before the walk back towards my hotel.
https://youtu.be/eg7kraTzgns
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The only tourist-worthy site my guide took me after my self-guided walking tour of a limited stretch of the town and its rural outskirts along Road #13 was Wat Phu That, which was pleasant, peaceful & quite scenic around golden hour, sunset and early dusk ( https://youtu.be/usf7fI5dTq4 ). There was some sort of fenced-off/gated town square-type park with a long paved walkway leading to a single Wat-like building across from my Charming Lao Hotel (intersection of Roads #13 & #2E) that my guide didn’t think was opened to the public, with Google Maps showing some buildings at its far end and identifying the park and structures as the ‘Industry & Commercial Department’. For me, the memorable sights were those of the local color & scenes of everyday life along rural Road #13, and particularly the the Marilyn Monroe murals (one completed, one just black outlines) in the men’s bathroom at the Lao roadhouse visited. ( https://youtu.be/U2218R0m0V4 )
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Located on Road #2E near the junction with Road #13, Charming Lao Hotel was my overnight accommodation in Oudomxay (Muang Xai) after arriving by train from Luang Prabang and prior to the drive up Road 2E and Road #1B up into Phongsali province. The hotel was decent, with the complimentary breakfast (Western or Asian) served in the attached Charming Lao Cafe Garden coffee shop. Near the hotel are two restaurants (Souphailin’s, serving northern Lao cuisine, and a Chinese restaurant whose name was only displayed in Chinese & Lao characters, with both restaurants tried and both good), plus an outdoor Chinese barbecue vendor stall.
Address: Road #2E (near Road #13 junction)
Oudomxay (Muang Xai) Laos
Phone: +856 81 212 881
https://www.booking.com/hotel/la/charming-lao-oudomxai.html
https://www.facebook.com/charminglaohotel?mibextid=LQQJ4d
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Souphalin, the namesake restaurant of owner and cook Souphailin (pronounced 'Su-Pai-Lin'), is located off Road #13 near the intersection with Road #2E in Oudomxay, northern Laos. A woman of mixed ethnic Khmu and Lao Lum ('Lowland Lao') bloodlines, she was a very intriguing & friendly person with a very unique & intriguing bric-a-brac and photo-festooned restaurant that specializes in northern Lao cuisine, with the combination of her endearing personality and abundant hospitality, the restaurant's eclectic, rural village home-like ambiance and her very tasty food making my late lunch one of the most memorable meals during my stay in Laos. She was kind enough to let me take a couple of video clips and photos of the restaurant's interior as she prepared my 'mok moo' minced pork steamed in banana leaf. Souphailin is definitely worth checking out if one's travel plans in Laos includes a stop in Oudomxay.
https://youtu.be/9FEfbt7Jog8
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We stopped by a local market in a small town or village along Road #2E on the outskirts of Oudomxay, Laos during our drive north to Bountai on Phongsali province. I don't know the name of the small town/village and did not purchase a cell phone data package while in Laos, so could not glance at Apple Maps to even get a set of GPS coordinates, and have yet to locate it after the fact by reviewing map satellite views. The market appeared to be mainly produce, general goods and cooked food, and I never came across the meat/poultry/fish 'legit wet market' section of the establishment, which I always find intriguing & photogenic/video clip-worthy. Kudos to my guide Khamla for knowing my penchant for open markets and stopping at the passing ones when convenient.
( https://youtu.be/rRhRVW8BbJE )
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Published on Sunday October 20th, 2024
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