Long Time Traveler (Muang Long)

Muang Long. In the foreground Nam Ma (Ma River) with fields of melon and rice, in the background Phou Mon Lem (Mon Lem Mountain)

Up in Northern Laos in a long narrow valley lies a town far off the beaten track. It is the largest town in north west Laos past Muang Sing. To the north lie many small villages and many kilometers of hills before the Mekong and the border with China, south lies even higher mountains and a fast river with no bridges and no way to ford in the wet season. The name of the town is Long, it is the central town of the district so it is called Muang Long.

Map of downtown Muang Long showing Guest Houses, Restaurants etc


Muang Long is a market town, lying at the confluence of the Long and the Ma rivers about forty or so kilometers upstream from the smaller town of Xiengkok on the Mekong. Up the road to the east (17A) in the other direction is the old walled town and former opium market at Sing. The floodplain of the rivers is what gives Muang Long it's reason for being. The flat fertile fields along the bottom of the valley provide the agricultural base of the town. The road after it leaves town in both directions is dirt, and there are 4 major foot paths leading over the mountains.