Pakbeng (Lao: ປາກແບ່ງ, pronounced [pàːk bɛ̄ŋ]) is a small village in Laos, on the Mekong River, about halfway between the Thai border at Huay Xai and Luang Prabang, Laos. Pakbeng is connected by a sealed road with Oudomxay province along the Nam Beng River.
There is nothing much to see except the Mekong and rural Laos. A couple of local wats may interest the obsessive temple enthusiast.
Find a bed, eat something and sleep.
A local guide named Mana offers treks, with a sleepover in a hilltribe village. Ask for him in Pak Beng.
Several guesthouses and some restaurants offer food, but don't expect anything special. There's an Indian restaurant with decent curries along the main street, called "Hassan". The friendly manager will also package meals for consumption on the slow boat. Be careful while paying though, he might tend to give you back too little or hand you unusable (too old, broken) dollar notes. (Never accept a banknote that's torn. It's unusable!)
The most popular restaurant is Sabaidee, nice view on the Mekong, the food is good and the owner speaks English and French. Only it is often super full, try going early at 18:00 or around 21:00.
Locals set up small sandwich stands along the road to the waterfront each morning. You can buy basic sandwiches of bread and Laughing Cow cheese. If not, ask your guesthouse to provide you with a packed lunch, as you are going to be in for a 9-hour boat ride without meals. Some boats do have some food and drinks for sale too.
There are several bakeries on the main road near the pier, the food and coffee quality is generally very low. By far the best (that is, passable) is the one in front of the Monsavanh Guesthouse.
Standard beer options are available from guest houses, at inflated prices. To ensure a good nights sleep, try the local "lao-lao bong"—water poured over fermented rice and slipped through a straw.
Pakbeng is remote and offers very little in the way of shopping, but if you're about to spend the rest of the day on a boat it would be a good idea to pick up snacks from the row of market stalls that line the main road in the morning.
Standards are low at this village near-the-end-of-the-world. Just look around as things change fast. The guesthouses in Pakbeng are all along the main street, just hundred metres away from the boat dock area. A room with shared bath will cost about US$3, while an en suite bath will cost an extra US$1-2 (rooms can mostly be paid in Thai baht and Lao kip as well). There might be places where you can get a room for US$2, but you'll have to search long and bargain hard. Considering hot water: make sure that your bathroom has an individual electric boiler, as there are guesthouses with central boilers that only provide a certain amount of hot water for the whole guesthouse on a first-come first-served basis.
Touts are prevalent in Pakbeng, and you will be bothered. However, these touts are very laid back, especially compared to Thailand. If you are after a really cheap option, it is possible to get a mattress and a mosquito net under a veranda for about US$0.50. Just watch out for monkeys.
It is possible, but not necessary to book accommodation in Pakbeng in advance, as there are plenty of guesthouses and almost all visitors stay only one night.
The exception to this rule is if you're looking for something a little more upmarket, in which case you have only two choices.
Most visitors will have to stop here overnight on the slow-boat trip to/from Luang Prabang. It's also possible to arrive by speedboat en route to the north. It's much less comfortable than the slow boat, but you will arrive before the slow boat so you have the option of choosing a guesthouse and showering with no lines/queues. You also get to see the town as the only Westerner. Another possibility is to reach the place by bus. This is a rough and long option.
There are only a few streets, so walk around. Most of the guesthouses are along the first 50 m of the main street as you head up the riverbank.
With the roads and particularly the rocky riverbank just above the boat landing being very steep, it might seem tempting to accept an offer for someone to carry your bag for you. Ensure that if you do, you agree on the size of the tip beforehand.
