Houei Xai, Bokeo Travel Package Tours, Laos Tour Information Hotel Guide`

HOUEI XAI OVERVIEW

Popularly spelt as Huay Xai ( or Ban Houei Xai ), it is a border town on the Thai-Lao border opposite which is Chiang Khong, its Thai counterpart. In the olden days it was an important unloading and loading place for goods carried along the trade route from Yunnan in southwestern China to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. These "jin haw" traders from Yunnan were Muslim Hui plying their trade using packed mules traversing the mountain paths linking the Lanna settlements of Laos and Northern Thailand. Even today, there is a brisk trade in Chinese goods carried by barges sailing up and down the Mekong River from Chiang Khong- Houei Xai to Jinghong in southern Yunnan and Luang Prabang in northern Laos. It has made Houei Xai a bustling riverside town. Visitors have to pass its immigration checkpoint to enter Laos from Thailand on their way to Luang Prabang and beyond to Vientiane or to Luang Nam Tha and beyond to Boten-Bohan on the Lao-Chinese border to enter Yunnan. The visa-on-arrival fee varies according to nationality and is around US$30. (Thais, Malaysians and a few other nationalities do not have to pay the visa fee.) Slow and fast boat jetties are located at opposite ends of the stretch of road fronting the Mekong River. They are deliberately set apart to prevent bickering by boatmen and to provide some business to the tuk-tuk and taxi owners of Houei Xai. Even its two markets are outside the town centre. The main market, Talat Sao, is where the fast boat jetty is, 2km south of the town. Houei Xai is a commercial center at the crossroads of China, Thailand and Laos. It is just a short and easy river crossing between the two last countries. The boat fare is 20 Baht; but a planned bridge would soon put the boats out of business. Its market is usually busy with hill tribes from the surrounding villages. Among them, one of the most interesting is Ban Nam Sang, populated by a group of the rare Lao Huay ethnicity. Located in the center of Houei Xai is Wat Chomkao Manilat temple. The view from the the temple hill over Houei Xai town, the Mekong River and surrounding mountains is a definite reward for making it up the many steps. At Ban Namkeung Kout, Ban Namkeung Mai and Ban Done Deng, it's 26km from the center of Huay Xai town to the north where you can visit the traditional Lue village, who came originally from Muang Sing, Luang Namtha. The villages can be reached by boat upstream from Houei Xai.