Travel Vieng Xay

Travel and Transport Info for Vieng Xay, Laos by Hobo Maps- - - Home

Although the town of Vieng Xay is small there are decent guest houses. All the central roads are paved and many have nice sidewalks and streetlights. The town is clean and orderly with nice views of tall hills just outside of town. The town has a governmental feeling to it.

Vieng Xay town imge below taken from Pha Nang Mom mountain viewpoint in 2019.

Dirt roads and walk paths lead out of town to the caves and some nice hiking and biking routes. A big lake in the center of town adds to the scenic beauty and is a great place for panoramic photos. No public internet cafes in Vieng Xay but most guest houses have wi-fi.

Day trips can be made out from Sam Neua to Vieng Xay with a return the same day but you can't rely on getting a public bus trip back in the afternoon as they often cancel. You may be best hiring a motorbike for the day. Long distance buses that go from Sam Neua to the Vietnam border pass by Vieng Xay but don't go into town or to the bus station, they just pass by at the Highway 6 junction about 1 km outside of town. If you want to flag down one of these buses for a ride you need to get out to that junction. Consult the Sam Neua bus schedules to estimate the times they may be coming by the Vieng Xay junction (roughly 1 hour after departure). See the junction on this map HERE.

Pha Nang Mom mountain image below:

Visiting the Caves
- The Viengxay Caves Visitor Centre is open daily from 08.00-12.00 and 13.30-16.30. A one-day trek including caves, culture and nature is available. They also offer a guided Audio Tour of the caves (in Lao & English) and bicycle rentals. It's not possible to see the caves without a government guide. Tours can be arranged on arrival, but they will only depart between 09:00 and 11:00 and after lunch at 13:00 until 16:00. These tours are either walking or bicycling tours. Each tour group must be all walkers or all cyclers and not a mixture.

Vieng Xay Transport
- Vieng Xay is a small town where all places can be easily reached by walking which is good because there may not be any tuk-tuk or songtaew buses available for transport around town. There is a bus station at the market area and you could always try to hire a private vehicle from there if you needed a short lift. If that doesn't work, maybe walk down to the Caves Visitor Center and ask an English-speaking guide there to help you find transport.

Songtaew Buses to Sam Neua
- Do not rely on any bus schedules you see in town for this trip. The official Vieng Xay bus schedule shows daily songtaew buses doing the 30 km trip from Vieng Xay bus station to Sam Neua's Nathong Bus Station at 07:00 AM and another after that in the morning but they often cancel the later one and sometimes both. There are no English signs at the Vieng Xay bus station and often nobody there. They only do the trip if there are enough passengers and some days they don't go at all. If you are lucky to find one running, the trip takes about an hour, costs 20,000 kip and goes thru a nice scenic area. Better to cycle yourself and forget about buses.

Below - Area east of Vieng Xay along Highway 6 on way to Vietnam border - picture taken June 2012

Travel to/from Vietnam

Please refer to our webpage Travel Sam Neua HERE for transport info to and from Vietnam as most transport originates from Sam Neua.

Cycling Around Vieng Xay
- Bicycles are for rent at the Cave Office but are rather expensive at 30,000 kip per day. The same bikes rent for 15,000 kip per day when combined with a tour of the caves. The area outside of town is quite scenic and dirt roads go out in several directions. With only 28 km distance between Sam Neua and Vieng Xay it may be possible to cycle out to Vieng Xay and back the same day from Sam Neua with enough time in Vieng Xay to have a good look around. Highway 6 is a fine paved road with not much traffic going thru nice scenery. A nice cycling loop south and east of town is shown on our Vieng Xay Map HERE.