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The Rugged Charm of the Top of the Land of a Million Elephants

Luang Namtha Province / Oudomxai Province, Laos

Northern Laos Mountains Panorama

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Laos // Luang Namtha Laos· Oudomxai Laos· Southeast Asia Location: [post_gps_latitude], [post_gps_longitude]

Bumping Along Road Number 13

It’s bumpy, windy, and dusty. And since the road, known only as road number 13, is in much need of repair in many places and makes for such slow-going, you’ll have plenty of time to admire the view.

And what a view it is. The rugged, mountainous terrain of northern Laos is beautiful. Number 13 is one of the very few roads that pass through Luang Namtha and Oudomxai, the second- and third-most northerly of Laos’ seventeen provinces. And if there are few roads, there are even fewer trains–actually, there are none at all in Laos–so road is really your only option for getting around. The single-lane road winds its way along the tops of mountains and along ridges. In many places, it’s best not to look down if you’re nervous about heights, especially since this is not a place where the market for safety barriers is making anyone rich. Some of the road is paved, some isn’t–an annual casualty of the rainy season. So for many miles, you’ll be bumping your way along what amounts to a dirt track.

Every few miles a village straddles the road. The traditional wood and bamboo houses of the Hmong and Kmu sit only a few feet from the road, the Kmu houses on stilts and those of the Hmong low to the ground. And as the Lao government continues its efforts to relocate people from remote villages high in the mountains to new, ethnically integrated villages along the road, where they can more easily have access to basic utilities like electricity and running water, these roadside villages are getting more numerous. But as you pass the steep mountain peaks, you’ll also see in the distance many of the small, wooden huts used by farmers for tending and harvesting their mountain rice fields, often perched on impossibly steep mountainsides approachable only by foot. Integration and consolidation might be the government watchwords of the day, but modernization is still taken in baby steps.

Luang Namtha and Oudomxai provinces are solidly rural. Nevertheless, as remote from the bigger town as some of these villages are, several are quite prosperous thanks to money coming in from their massive northern neighbor: China. A particular specialty, well-suited to the lush terrain, is the growing of a rubber trees, and thanks to the voracious appetite of China’s humming industrializing economy for rubber, many of the local villages in this part of northern Laos have become rich, at least by Lao standards.

So lucrative is the oozy crop that the provincial government has evidently decided to turn a blind eye to the creep of farming into the Nam Ha National Bio-Diversity Conservation Area, supposedly an ecologically protected zone. Hillsides have been cleared and rubber plantations encroach well inside the zone’s borders.

It becomes easy, after hours mount up traveling along road number 13, to take this combination of beautiful mountain scenery and small, traditional villages for granted. But it’s a striking contrast to the flat terrain of the town of Luang Namtha. Transliterated as “greater area of the River Nam,” translated as “”Royal Sugar Palm” or “Royal Green River,” and pronounced “lwung namta” (the “h” of “th” is always silent), the town is a regional hub and a provincial capital–there’s even an airport, albeit not a big one. A shiny, new provincial museum building does double duty as a conference and meeting center. But despite some efforts by the few hotels in town to promote eco and adventure tourism, this is still somewhere off the usual beaten track for tourists.

Which is a shame, because that view along road number 13 is quite something.

Rice Huts on the Road in Northern Laos

By virtue of being on the main road, this tiny village had just recently had electricity installed (you can see the power lines here). Most of the other villages further from the main road didn’t (and don’t) have it. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Three Lao children in village

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Northern Laos Mountains

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Village Dirt Street in Laos

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Cooking Noodle Soup in Laos

Cooking noodle soup. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Hammer and Sickle Flag Laos

Flags on a government building in Luang Namtha. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Hut with rice field

A hut overlooking a rice field. The stilts help keep it out of the water when the field floods in the rainy season. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Boats on the River Tha (Nam Tha) in northern Laos

On the River Tha in Luang Namtha. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Lao children in village playing

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Woven Bamboo Hut Detail

Woven bamboo forming the wall of a hut.Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Bamboo rice hut in Laos

A rice storage hut. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Red chilis drying in the sun

Chilis (or Lao shrimp). Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Luang Namtha Mountain Rice Bamboo Huts

You can see three small bamboo huts perched on the steep mountainside. These are used as bases for growing mountain rice. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Lao boy with spinning top

Winding up the spinning top. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

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A bamboo hut used for rice storage. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Crossroads Town in Laos

A town at the crossroads. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Northern Laos Mountainous Landscape

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Northern Laos Village

A local village. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Woman Sorting Rice in Northern Laos

Husking rice. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Village on hillside in Luang Namtha Province

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Old Gas Pumps in Laos

A local gas station. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

River Weed at a Lao Market

River weed for sale at a roadside market. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Northern Laos Blue Mountains

Blue haze over the mountains. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

50th Anniversary Sign Commemorating Lao Police Formation

A sign commemorating the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Lao Police. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Luang Namtha Roadside Market

A roadside market. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

House in village in Luang Namtha Province

A bamboo hut overlooking a rice field. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Morning Mists on River in Luang Namtha

Morning mist on the river Tha in Luang Namtha. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Children playing in Lao village

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Children in a village in Luang Namtha province, Laos

The older kids look after the younger kids. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Lao children in village playing with spinning top

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Village Children in Northern Laos

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Lao kids in village

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Bamboo Bridge Over a Creek in Northern Laos

A bamboo bridge. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Lao boy using knife to carve spinning top

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

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Some of the rugged mountains. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Boy carving a spinning top in a village in Luang Namtha Laos

This boy was using a machete to carve up a piece of root into a top, which they spun with a stick and string. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Group of Lao children in village

Some local kids who had wandered over to see the foreigners. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Firewood Cart in Northern Laos

Wheeling some firewood down the mountain. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

What to Know Before You Go

There is a small airport in Luang Namtha, but in general this isn’t somewhere you just turn up on a whim. There are some tourist lodgings, but in general it doesn’t have a lot of infrastructure in place for foreign visitors. Much of the people coming in and out of the area are related to the Chinese companies in the area. Of course, being off the beaten tourist track definitely has its appeal.

Where to Next?

  • The River Outpost of Nong Khiaw
    The River Outpost of Nong Khiaw
  • Photo of Boys on a bike with sunset on the Mekong in Vientiane Laos (Viang Chan)
    Vientiane, City on the Mekong
  • luang prabang 03 copyright havecamerawilltravel com - Luang Prabang's Morning Market
    Luang Prabang's Morning Market
  • Standing Stones of Hintang near Sam Neua Laos
    The Standing Stones of Hintang
  • 10 copyright havecamerawilltravel com 1 - Luang's Prabang's That Chomsi
    Luang's Prabang's That Chomsi
  • Phonsavan Morning Market Cooked Food
    Phonsavan's Morning Market


Travel Advice for Laos

You can find the latest U.S. Department of State travel advisories and information for Laos (such as entry visa requirements and vaccination requirements) here.

The British and Australian governments offer their own country-specific travel information. You can find the British Government's travel advice for Laos here and the Australian Government's here.

Health & Vaccinations

The CDC makes country-specific recommendations for vaccinations and health for travelers. You can find their latest information for Laos here.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.


Location: Luang Namtha
Country: Laos
Coordinates:
      Latitude: 21.006163
      Longitude: 101.408581

      # Luang Namtha Laos
      # Oudomxai Laos
      # Southeast Asia



About David Coleman

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living.

I’m based in Washington, DC.

You can find my photography gear reviews and tips at havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.

Licensing & Prints

Looking for travel stock photos or prints? I might be able to help. You can search my collection here:

If you already have a buyer account with Alamy and would prefer to use that, you can search my images directly here.

Get in Touch

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Photos by David Coleman. Please contact me for licensing images.
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