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CLOSE-UP
DESTINATION
PAKBENG – A MEKONG
OASIS
Wonders await as Pakbeng transforms itself from a stopover to a destination in its own right. TEXT BY BERNIE ROSENBLOOM PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHOONSAB THEVONGSA & BERNIE ROSENBLOOM
GETTING THERE Pakbeng is an 8 hour slow boat cruise from Luang Prabang or from Houay Xay. Lao Airlines offers daily flights to Oudomxay, and then it is only a 3–4 hour drive to Pakbeng.
F
orested mountains in wilderness proved highlights of my eight-hour ride aboard a Shompoo Cruise to “Destination Pakbeng”. Some describe Pakbeng as little more than an overnight stop on the Thailand-Luang Prabang Mekong cruise. But I was getting a treasure map from Jai at the newly opened Le Grand Pakbeng Resort. It revealed tourism gems and real gold. “We just introduced The Khmu Trail to tourists,” he said. “Mr Pheng, a local Khmu, will guide us.”
THE KHMU TRAIL Oudomxay
PAKBENG
Morning began with coffee in silence on the villa’s terrace. The Mekong flowed below. Mountaintops peaked above a rim of fog. Passengers hurried to catch cruises. I relaxed until 10:00. Our truck turned onto the Khmu Trail just outside town. The rough mountain road followed the Sengkham River past wandering livestock: goats, cows, chickens, ducks, and an albino buffalo. We arrived at Houay Sengkham Village to find a stuck truck blocking the road. Never mind. The
