Best way to get to Luang Namtha from Hanoi?

Hi everyone! We are going to be travelling to Vietnam. After spending some time at Hanoi we have decided to move on to Luang Namtha. Can you advice us? What is the best way to get to there? How about the transportation method? Please do help as I seem to be unable to find out any reliable info. And I know that many of you have been all over the place and as such can probably tell me a lot more than I could ever find out myself.

Hi. This is not an easy trip to do. From Hanoi it would take loads of time - at least two or three days. The best way would be to find a boat, or a private boat man who is willing to take you there. I would not advise you to go about surface travel. This is more complicated, and if you are not sure what you are doing you might get into all kinds of problems. There are some agencies organising the boat trip, so I have heard, but I am not sure which ones they are. Good luck.