10 Things to do in Luang Namtha That You Shouldn't Miss

An eco-conscious and ethical tour operator in Luang Namtha, specialising in multi-day tours into heart of the stunning Nam Ha NPA. Tours can be tailor-made with your choice of trekking, kayaking, rafting, cycling, home-stays and jungle bushcraft. Discovering Laos work hard to build strong relationships with minority villages to ensure them a sustainable income, conserve their rich heritage and protect the beautiful environment that they have lived in for centuries. Every tour provides customers with highly experienced, English-speaking guides and employs assistants from local villages. Discovering Laos has been around since 2010 serving as a leader in sustainable tourism.

THE HIKER was founded by a team of expert Eco-tour guides, who have been guiding in NamHa national park and other provinces of Laos for several years. THE HIKER aims to innovate the responsible local tourism industry with its professional, by delivering high motivation to the local-guides team, offering ethical services, providing premium quality eco-tours suitable for all clients, whilst sharing responsibility and benefits with local communities. THE HIKER specialises in jungle trekking tours from 1 up to 7days, while multi-adventure tours e.g. "Combined adventure trekking & kayaking" are the second specialty. Its trails are privately used, covers most of the dense forest and wilderness areas. Main accommodation recommended by THE HIKER is jungle stay, whether camping in a bamboo hut, in tent or even creating your own shelter with bamboo & banana leafs. Homestay in a remote village is also a good choice for a softer wilderness experience.

Forest Retreat Laos is an eco trekking and tours company with a focus on bringing our customers to beautiful places while bringing opportunities to local communities. We are specialized in treks and kayak trips in the Nam Ha National Protected Area, cycling trips in the Luang Namtha valley and beyond, and complete package tours to discover Northern Laos. By booking your trip at Forest Retreat Laos you help us to directly support the local communities and environment in Northern Laos. Forest Retreat Laos supports the local community substantially by working mainly with local people. We hire English speaking guides from the Luang Namtha area, we hire assistant guides from local villages and we pay villagers close to the National Protected Area to make and maintain our trails. Also these villagers are hired to build and maintain our exclusive jungle retreats. In the case of homestays, the minority people are compensated generously. At the same time, we try to teach the people in these remote villages as much as we can about the environment and the importance of protecting the forest and its animals. All of our treks and kayak trips take place inside the Nam Ha National Protected Area. With the park fees and taxes, that are included in the tour price, we help the local government protect and maintain the beautiful forest in the Nam Ha NPA.

Established in 1993, the mountainous Nam Ha NPA stretches from the Chinese border through the middle of Namtha province, covering over 240,000 hectares and about 24% of the province. In 2003 the Nam Ha National Protected Area (NPA) was designated as an ASEAN Heritage Site. Nam Ha is contiguous with the 44,000 hectare Shiang Yong Protected Area in Yunnan, China. It is populated with ethnic minority

About 6 km northeast of the town centre, the Lao Huay (Lenten) village of Ban Nam Dee (Good water) is a good place to observe the progress of bamboo papermaking. Behind the village you will see the entrance to the Nam Dee Waterfall. The area around the waterfall offers good facilities, like a small handicraft shop managed by the villagers; toilets and a house for picnics, etc.

Built in 2004, this stunning stupa sits atop a hill above Luang Namtha Town. It’s easy to access from the north end of town along the Valley Loop bike ride or you could take a tuktuk from town. A festival takes place here every December on full-moon day to celebrate The stupa. Behind the stupa you’ll see the big reclining Buddha.

You will find a variety of artifacts collected from over 17 ethnic communities in the province. Of particular interest is the extensive collection of indigenous clothing, as well as agricultural tools and household equipment. There is an excellent collection of Buddha images, bronze drums, ceramics and textiles. Also, of the traditional handmade weapons that used for hunting and national defense.