ha Daeng Peak is a beautiful mountain situated 140km north of Luang Prabang.
This mountain is actually the main reason we visited Laos. We booked a few days in Nong Khiaw, a rustic small town by the mountain, so we could tackle the climb to the peak before sunrise. The journey from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw is around 3-4 hours.
We have set out the below blog to summarise our experince so hopefully your journey and climb can run as smoothly as possible.
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Luang Prabang -> Nong Khiaw
Transport: Our experience with buses in Luang Prabang was really confusing as they have two bus stations. One station generally services the north and the other station serves the south. Both bus stations are quite far outside the centre and require a taxi or tuk-tuk, so we’d recommend purchasing your bus ticket through a third-party that includes hotel pick up. We found this a lot more relaxing because the tuk-tuk driver who picked us up then bought our ticket to Nong Khiaw and all we had to do was get on the minibus once we arrived at the main bus station.
Trips to Nong Khiaw depart from Kiew Lot Sai Nuan bus station. Please try to get on the bus early as we heard every trip is oversold and on our occasion a passenger had to sit on the floor the whole trip… so uncomfortable! Even sitting on the normal seats was uncomfortable as the roads are incredibly bumpy so take a motion tablet if you get car sick (Maggie took a tablet and was out of it).
Arriving in Nong Khiaw
Accommodation: We booked this brilliant riverside hotel, just a 10 minute walk away from the bus station. Once we arrived we hopped off the bus and started walking straight away. The hotel included free breakfast served on the balcony overlooking the river.
Food: Our favourite restaurant was the Couleur Cafe which had a huge range of tasty affordable food. We also tried Vongmany restaurant the next day which was great too!
Pha Daeng Peak
To get the spectacular sunrise views (weather dependent), we woke up at 4am and left our hotel at 4:30am. This meant there was total darkness so a bright torch was essential!
As it was so dark, we actually missed this scary sign at the entrance point, issuing a warning to stick to the paths due to unexploded bombs still in the area.
The entrance point is roughly 500m east of the bridge (see below):
Entrance Fee
20,000 kip / person
We paid a lady who appeared from the house just left of the entrance point. If you arrive very early, just wait for someone or pay on your way down the mountain.
The Hike
Our hike took 1 hour and 20 minutes. We’re not very experienced hikers, so we struggled at some points. You’ll see all sorts of jungle-like animals… so be prepared. The views are completely worth it though.
We were overtaken by one hiker who made it look easy. Other than that, we found some campers at the top when we finally reached the summit just in time to catch the sunrise.
There is plenty of space at the top and there is even a little hut to shelter. Getting there early was a huge advantage so we could take photos with little interruption.
I managed to get my drone out before it became too busy (the most nerve racking take-off and landing of our trip… so far).
We spent around 2 hours at the peak before it became really busy with late arrivals. We then trekked back down the mountain, just in time for our free breakfast and a nap!
In summary, the climb was totally worth it and the pictures speak for themselves. Of course, please let us know if you have any questions in the comments.
