Bus from Luang Namtha to Boten to catch the Lane Xang train

Hi there, Does anyone know if there’s a bus from Luang Namtha to Boten to catch the train coming from China to Vientiane? If so, what’s the name of the company? Also, how long does the bus take to cover that distance? What’s the condition of the road like? Thanks for your help! Tom

Hi there, For Boten I don’t know, but for Nateuy station, which is closer, you’ll at least find shared taxis/minivans. The road isn’t great—about 1h15-1h30 trip.

Hi, I did this in 2023—it took around 3 to 4 hours on a rough road. The bus station is in Luang Namtha town (since there’s another bus terminal outside). They use vans, which wait to fill up before leaving. You can read about the timing and how to do it in my post (which I can’t seem to open right now...): "Back from 4 weeks in northern Laos, November 2023" The train also stops at Nateuy. Just a heads-up: book your tickets in advance—we had to wait 2 days in Boten before getting seats.

Hi,

it seems like it’s about 3 to 4 hours of terrible road

In your feedback, you actually mention February 23rd at 9:41 AM:

Van to Boten (1h30, 100,000 LAK), catastrophic road.

https://voyageforum.com/forum/retour-4-semaines-nord-laos-novembre-2023-d10697270/

..it looked like the road was bad, I remember it taking longer :) But from Luang Namtha to Nateuy, the road is good and the scenery is pretty.

Am I the only one having trouble with this site? When I read a post and try to check out another thread, I always end up back on the first post I opened.

No, you're not the only one—this happens "from time to time" (sometimes every day...) randomly. It's a known bug on the site's list of issues that have been around since this summer, and the admins clearly haven't managed to get rid of it yet. When it happens to you, don't waste your time trying to insist—just let it go and come back a few hours later. You might also run into a message that I don’t remember the exact wording of, but it says something like "the discussion you're referring to no longer exists, maybe it was deleted by its creator," even though that’s obviously not the case.

In my experience, not accessing the forum directly from the email inbox after a reply notification greatly reduces these risks.

thanks, that reassures me—I thought it was my computer.

Okay, thanks, it’ll be Luang Namtha Nateuy. I saw that the Chinese train to Vientiane can only be booked 3 days in advance. Fair enough. But on the 12go Asia site, I can already book tickets for late November. Do you know if that’s legit? Thanks.

Okay, thanks, it’ll be Luang Namtha–Nateuy. I saw that the Chinese train to Vientiane can only be booked 3 days in advance. Fair enough. But on 12Go Asia, I can already book tickets for late November. Do you know if that’s legit? Thanks.

I can't tell you—back in 2023, it took 3 days... but this site seems okay. Maybe it's become more flexible now?