Hugging a winding road carved up the side of a mountain, the teeming settlement of wood-scrap, corrugated tin and hand-painted signs that constitutes PAKBENG is the halfway point between Houayxai and Louang Phabang. As slow boats are unable to navigate the Mekong after dark, a night spent here is unavoidable if you're travelling this way - a taste of back-country Laos complete with hilltribes and rustic accommodation. Follow Pakbeng's only road up to one of the town's few concrete structures, the revamped, package tour-oriented Sarika (under $5). The rooms are pricey by Pakbeng standards, but they do come with fan and attached bath. All the other guesthouses in the town have very basic rooms with shared facilities and cost less than $1.50. Continuing up the hill, you'll find Monsavan, offering singles and doubles in a quaint wooden house and Dock Khoune Fang Kong, with cramped doubles and a small restaurant. A little further along, Phanthavong has decent doubles, dorm beds (5000K) and a balcony overlooking the street. Cheap bowls of fõe can be found at stalls in and around the market. Otherwise there are two decent restaurants , Bounmy and Kham Niaw, at the bottom of the hill. Electricity in Pakbeng is from 6pm until 9pm.

If you have booked a passage clear through to Louang Phabang , you should be down at the boat landing before 9am to avoid being left behind. Some captains offer to stop briefly near Louang Phabang at the caves at Pak Ou , charging each passenger who takes him up a couple of thousand kip extra. This works out cheaper than chartering a boat from Louang Phabang, but leaves little time to explore.

Trucks from Pakbeng to Oudomxai park at the foot of the hill and usually leave between 8am and 9am. The wreck of a road passes through Hmong and Tai Leu villages, and it's possible to break the eight-hour journey with a night at the very basic guesthouse in MUANG HOUN , a small town about two hours from Pakbeng.