At first glance the town itself has little to offer a tourist, however, the surrounding area has some of the best mountain scenery in Laos, and if you’re willing to brave the roads on a motorbike you will not be disappointed. The surrounding mountains have waterfalls, hot springs and many scattered minority villages. Despite their stern exterior and confusion upon seeing foreigners the local villagers are very friendly and a polite ‘Sabai dee!’, and a wave will elicit a warm response.

Also of note are the communist monuments in Sam Neua and Vieng Xai which were the strongholds of the Pathet Lao during the American bombing campaign.

The caves are noted for their miniature Buddha sculptures. Hundreds of very small and mostly damaged wooden Buddhist figures are laid out over the wall shelves. They take many different positions, including meditation, teaching, peace, rain, and reclining (nirvana).

Following the opening of this bridge a new bus route has started running from Chiang Rai through Chiang Khong to Bokeo. Chiang Khong to Bo Keo via the bridge takes around four hours and costs 130 Baht/7500 kip. The highway (and buses) continues to Luang Namtha and to the Chinese border at the Boten-Mohan checkpoint.

Each month more and more cafe’s, bars and restaurants are opening. They are all within walking distance of each other, in the village center.

The village was more recently made famous by British cyclist Alan Bate, who broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth by bicycle in 2010. In the village he has opened the “The Hub pub”,the free to enter,”Hub bicycle museum”,and the “Funky Box Hostel”. All situated in Soi 2.

The interesting thing to note about Chiang Khong is ethnic diversity of the local Laotian, Thai and Hill tribes, which results in three separate calenders and a variety of festivals held throughout the year.

The best time to visit is from October through to the Thai New year festival of Song Kran in April.

Most reviews are now totally out of date, so come and spend a day or two in Chiang Khong and be suprised!

Many who have traveled around South East Asia have heard about tubing on the Nam Song River, an activity that long-dominated the town and its visitors. Originally, the bars catering to tubers along the river were opened up by hedonistic backpackers. At one time, as many as 20 bars lined the river, with pulsating music, drinking games and drug-fueled debauchery becoming the norm. However, after 27 tourists died while partying on the river in 2011, the local authorities cramped down on drugs, shut down many of the tubing bars, put restrictions on the volume of bar’s music, and removed riverside swings and “death slides.” As of July 2015, five bars operate each day along the river on a two day rotation. As of December 2015, only one bar operating.

However, those upstream bars still have a profound influence on the town itself, which has an atmosphere of lethargy by day and debauchery by night. In town, tourists sprawl out in the pillow-filled restaurants called “TV Bars,” watching re-runs of US sitcoms “Friends” and “Family Guy” until the sun goes down, and then party heavily until the early hours. Free alcohol is served at many of the tourist-oriented bars in town, providing hours of free drinking for the frugal backpacker.

What purpose these stone jars served and who constructed them remains a mystery. Due to their size and the nearby bones, some archaeologists think the urns were prehistoric burial sites for an ancient civilisation that travelled along a forgotten overland trade route between the Mekong River and the Gulf of Tonkin.

Others believe the urns were used as distilling vessels during the early stages of funeral rites. A body would be placed inside and left to decompose before being moved to a crematorium or secondary storage location. After the corpse had fully decayed, the remains would be returned to the urn and another fresh body would join it, repeating the cycle.

This belief is supported by the traditional Southeast Asian mortuary practices used for members of royalty. Thai royals, for example, historically had their bodies cremated many months after death, with their remains being moved from urn to urn until the final day of incineration, in the belief that the soul moves through a gradual transformation, exiting the earth and entering the spiritual world. Additionally, the rims on each jar are thought to have supported lids that would be placed on top until the body decomposed, adding credit to this theory.

Locals, on the other hand, have more exciting philosophies. Some say the stone vessels were created to brew potent rice wine to celebrate the victory of a band of mythical giants over their enemies; others say the jars held whisky for a thirsty giant who lived in the mountains above Phonsavan. But the truth is, no one knows the secret behind this ancient mystery.

Patuxai Victory Monument in Vientiane, Laos

Beyond the evident history and heritage of the old town are aquamarine waterfalls, top trekking opportunities, meandering mountain bike trails, elephant camps, kayaking trips, river cruises and outstanding natural beauty, the whole ensemble encircled by hazy green mountains.