In the north of Laos, there is a border town known as Bo Ten. It is the gatekeeper to entering China, and according to an older copy of Lonely Planet Laos I saw in a hostel, gives an interesting glimpse into a Chinese city. It supposedly had tall buildings and markets, and seemed more like China than northern Laos. It was supposed to be worth a day trip, or heaven forbid, a full night’s stay. This, though, was not entirely factual.
Having been traveling by motorcycle, my trip to Bo Ten only took about 40 minutes from Luang Namtha. It wasn’t too far out of the way from Odomxay, and the scenery to the actual town was beautiful. As I came sweeping around the mountain curves, seeing signs for the Chinese border only 5 km away, I was shocked; Bo Ten isn’t a big city.
