Officially, “Muang Xai” is the city and “Oudomxay” is the province, but people use the two names interchangeably. Like most tourists, I stopped here only long enough to transfer between the high-speed train and the buses. But the trekking here looks potentially good.

I spent half a day in Muang Xai, and I particularly enjoyed the sunset view from the Phu That pagoda and monastery (see photo), as well as the excellent Red Cross Sauna and Massage Center just a few minutes’ walk away (no English spoken, very inexpensive).

Restaurant options are limited. A charming elderly woman serves fabulous food at Souphalin Restaurant in her private home. Service is extremely slow – I think she waits until she has a customer, takes their order, and then sends someone out to buy the ingredients. I’m not joking. Post-Covid, with so few tourists in the more remote areas of Laos, that happens sometimes.

If you are going from Oudomxay into Vietnam, and you have a Vietnamese e-visa, you should print out your e-visa BEFORE arriving at the border. Sometimes just having it on your phone is good enough, sometimes not. I am told there is a shop that will print for 5,000 kip (about $0.30) per page. It is on the main street a short walk (maybe 100 metres or so) south of the river. I’m afraid I don’t have more precise directions than that.

This is a rare city where the government’s Tourist Information Centre has reopened post-Covid (located on the main street very close to the river). And their impressive English-speaking guides offer several treks amongst the hill tribes that looked interesting. I didn’t trek here, because I had just done it in Luang Namtha.

I could see from the hilltop overlooks that some jungle here looks beautiful and intact, but a lot of jungle is destroyed. The quality of the trekking will mainly depend on whether you hike through intact jungle or not. If anyone has trekked here, please contact me and tell me about it.