Trekking in Luang Namtha, Laos: Jungle Hike and Village Stay

Jungle trekking in Luang Namtha is quite possibly one of the most incredible experiences that you can do in Laos. Moreover, you will get the chance to experience village homestays, authentic Laotian food, rafting down the Nam Ha River and hiking the unruly jungle of Nam Ha National Protected Area.

However, you also have the opportunity to choose from one of many treks to complete so that you can decide on the best tour suited to you.

Nonetheless, if you have the opportunity to experience one of these jungle hikes, I highly recommend that you do so. This Luang Namtha trek is an insanely eye-opening experience and is enjoyable while doing so.

Not to mention, you will get the chance to support local tour guides and promote tourism within the small and less populated region of Luang Namtha.

Let’s dive into the guide and you can discover everything you need to know about trekking in Luang Namtha.

Trekking in Luang Namtha

About ‘Discovering Laos’

I did my jungle trek in Luang Namtha with a company called ‘Discovering Laos’. They were incredibly professional and gave us a fantastic offer on the trek.

We had a man from the company visit us at our accommodation and chat with us about the different tours on offer. His English was fantastic and we could communicate perfectly with him. He also gave us one English-speaking guide and a second local guide that lives in one of the villages.

Moreover, we chatted for about an hour on the different tours, and he ended up recommending that we complete the 2-day trek. We had a look through all of the information and what was included and asked plenty of questions about what the experience would include.

Finally, we chose the tour, organised the payment, and got ourselves sorted for the following two days ahead.

Tour Itinerary

I’m going to give you a quick breakdown of the jungle trekking in Luang Namtha tour so you have an idea of what the days consist of.

Day One:

9:00 AM: Meet up and make your way to the morning market
9:30 AM: Wander the market and pick up supplies
10:00 AM: Leave the tuk-tuk and start trekking into the jungle
12:00 PM: Stop for lunch
12:30 PM: Continue trekking
4:00 PM: Arrive at Nalan Homestay
7:00 PM: Dinner and hanging out

Day Two:

7:00 AM: Wakeup and get ready for breakfast
9:00 AM: Depart the village and jump onto the rafts
10:00 AM: Arrive at the first village and explore
10:30 AM: Arrive at the second village and explore
12:00 PM: Stop for lunch
1:00 PM: Continue rafting
4:00 PM: Arrive at the end of the tour and pack up the gear
5:30 PM: Arrive back at your accommodation

Cost of the Tour

I paid 1.1 Million Kip ($110 AUD) for this 2-day adventure. However, I only went with two other people, so the price was higher than usual.

Therefore, if you can get a group of 4-8 people to complete this trek, it’ll reduce the price drastically. Moreover, you may be looking at around 700 – 800k Kip per person instead.

Nonetheless, this price included everything I needed for the two-day adventure, which I’ll discuss in the next section.

What’s Included

All of the essentials were included in this trip, which was great and took the need for me to worry away. Firstly, they provided all the drinking water, which was great as we didn’t need to carry it in.

Secondly, they provided all the food and made authentic Laotian cuisine. There are two lunches and one dinner included in this trek.

Thirdly, accommodation for the night was organised as we were staying in a village. And, they had all the equipment for the rafting including life jackets, helmets, rafts and large dry bags for the following day.

In terms of what you may like to bring along with you, the next section goes into a little detail about some of the things that I brought on the jungle trek in Luang Namtha.

What to Bring on the Jungle Trek

For the most part, you don’t really need to bring a lot with you onto the jungle trek in Luang Namtha, however, these are some of the things that I bought along with me:

Small backpack
Electrolyte tablets
Sunscreen
Bug spray
iPhone
Portable charger
Go Pro
2 sets of clothing
Tissues
Sunglasses
GRAYL Geopress water bottle
Headlamp
Snacks

I felt like that was everything I needed and it was the perfect amount of stuff to take for an overnight trip. Moreover, I managed to take some fantastic photos and felt comfortable with all of my belongings.

In terms of all my other luggage, I chose to leave the rest of my belongings at a trusted hotel. They locked everything up and kept it all safe. I stayed at the Thoulasith Guesthouse and they were lovely! I highly recommend checking them out.

Wandering through the morning market in Luang Namtha

How to Choose a Trek to Complete

There is a heap of different treks on offer, so I recommend having a look through them to decide on which one you would like to complete.

Some of them can go for multiple days and you can complete all different kinds of routes. Personally, I was pretty happy completing an overnight trek and felt like I had a pretty incredible experience doing so.

Nonetheless, you can always choose to do one of the longer ones if that’s what you’re interested in. Additionally, be sure to pay attention to the itineraries and pick something that you’re comfortable doing.

Finally, be sure to consider your physical ability. I was lucky enough to go with one of the guides down the rafting section, and he knew his way around the rapids. I felt much more comfortable to have his help in getting through those rough areas.

A Breakdown of the Experience

There is a tonne of tours on offer, but I completed the 2-day trek and rafting adventure. Moreover, I completed this trek with two other people and we had two guides with us for the whole trip.

On the first day, we were picked up from our accommodation at 9 AM and were taken to the morning market to gather a whole bunch of supplies. Then, we made our way to the beginning of the trail in the Nam Ha National Protected Area to begin the hike into the jungle.

We hiked for a total of around 5 hours with one stop for lunch. The guides showed us how they cook on fire using nothing but bamboo, banana leaves and a knife. It was insanely impressive watching them carve out spoons into the bamboo and create an entire dining setting from nature.

After that, we continued hiking and wandered into a tiny off-the-grid village called Nalan Homestay. Here we got to experience authentic village life and got to enjoy dinner with some of the lovely villagers.

Unfortunately, even if you know how to speak Laotian, it can be near impossible to communicate with these villagers as they have their own languages. There are over 160 ethnic minorities and most of them have their own languages.

We stayed in one of the huts and then woke up early the next morning to get ready for rafting down the Nam Ha River. This was insanely fun and the rapids were pretty incredible!

On the way down the river, we stopped at a couple of other villages and got a tour around the place. These people were very welcoming and it was amazing to see what their day-to-day life looks like.

We ended our journey, and a tuk-tuk picked us up and took us home. What an experience!

I was pretty proud to have completed trekking in Luang Namtha, it was an awesome time and I’m glad I got the opportunity to experience it.

Nalan Village Homestay

Do I Recommend Completing One of These Jungle Treks?

I genuinely cannot recommend this adventure enough. In all honesty, after 6 months of travel in South East Asia, I think that this jungle trek in Luang Namtha is quite possibly one of the greatest experiences I had.

It was entirely authentic, I got to experience a different side to life and I got to see what it’s like for villagers to live far from regular civilisation. It’s a very eye-opening experience and I’m so glad that I went on this jungle trek.

Therefore, if you have the opportunity to experience this, I couldn’t recommend it enough! Truly, it could absolutely change your life and you’ll be so grateful that you did it.

Where You Can Book a Tour

I think the best way to book a tour is to get ahold of Discovering Laos with the link below. You will get the opportunity to chat with one of their tour guides and get help in selecting the best tour for you.

Feel free to check out ‘Discovering Laos’ here for more information on the treks that you can complete.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, trekking in Luang Namtha was quite possibly the highlight of my entire trip and is easily one of the best things to do in Laos. It was a fascinating experience and I’m so glad I went through with the opportunity to do so.

If you are looking for an authentic village experience and to try a little bit of everything, then I think this is definitely the way to go. You truly get to try out a whole heap of things within about 36 hours, making the journey jam-packed.

Finally, have a conversation with ‘Discovering Laos’ to get yourself sorted with one of the best tours. They’ll be able to organise you and ensure you pick the best suited to your needs.

Additionally, if you’d like to learn more about Laos, feel free to check out this section of my blog where I keep it updated with plenty of fresh content. Happy reading!