Laos

[Ginny]

I've just got back from a 2 weeks solo mission travelling around Thailand. Mainly stayed on the banana pancake trail and had the time of my life and am itching to dissapear again. I basically landed in Bangkok had a few night there and then 'winged' it down south by train, bus and boat. Then spent some time travelling between the islands. Samui, Pangan, Tao.

 

I am just planning my trip for next year which is going to be longer. I am planning on getting to Thailand, spending a few nights in Bangkok then heading over to Laos. This looks like an amazing place to travel around with loads of history and seems to be the least 'westernised' place in South East Asia, for now anyway.

 

Has anyone been? How easy is it to get to from Thailand? Where did you get your Visa? Is 3 weeks enough to get to see this bad boy?

[Yerma'satexan!]

Has anyone been? Yes

 

How easy is it to get to from Thailand? Dead easy, I crossed the border up just past Chang Rai got a slow boat for 2 days down the Mekong River to get to Luang Prabang. There are other ways, but I think there may only be 3 border crossings, you would have to check.

 

Where did you get your Visa? Got my visa in Chang Mai, hostel sorted it out, gave them my passport and about $20 got my passport back 2 days later with the visa inside.

 

Is 3 weeks enough to get to see this bad boy? Pretty much, I only spend just over 2 weeks, went to the main places like Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Plain of Jars & Vientienne. Spent a whole week in Vang Vieng mind, didn't go to the Four Thousand Islands though, wish I had, heard amazing stuff about it. So 3 weeks very probably enough, 4 weeks deffo.

[Ginny]

Has anyone been? Yes

 

How easy is it to get to from Thailand? Dead easy' date=' I crossed the border up just past Chang Rai got a slow boat for 2 days down the Mekong River to get to Luang Prabang. There are other ways, but I think there may only be 3 border crossings, you would have to check.

 

[b']Where did you get your Visa? [/b] Got my visa in Chang Mai, hostel sorted it out, gave them my passport and about $20 got my passport back 2 days later with the visa inside.

 

Is 3 weeks enough to get to see this bad boy? Pretty much, I only spend just over 2 weeks, went to the main places like Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Plain of Jars & Vientienne. Spent a whole week in Vang Vieng mind, didn't go to the Four Thousand Islands though, wish I had, heard amazing stuff about it. So 3 weeks very probably enough, 4 weeks deffo.

 

Is right mate. Nice one.

 

Good news about Chiang Mai. Did you get a train from Chiang Mai? I pretty much want to do that route you have done. Would defo get to The Four Thousand Island though. How was Vang Vieng? was it full of whoppers?

[Fowlers God]

I've just got back from a 2 weeks solo mission travelling around Thailand. Mainly stayed on the banana pancake trail and had the time of my life and am itching to dissapear again. I basically landed in Bangkok had a few night there and then 'winged' it down south by train, bus and boat. Then spent some time travelling between the islands. Samui, Pangan, Tao.

 

I am just planning my trip for next year which is going to be longer. I am planning on getting to Thailand, spending a few nights in Bangkok then heading over to Laos. This looks like an amazing place to travel around with loads of history and seems to be the least 'westernised' place in South East Asia, for now anyway.

 

Has anyone been? How easy is it to get to from Thailand? Where did you get your Visa? Is 3 weeks enough to get to see this bad boy?

 

You see any Lady Boy's?

[Unrighteous]

Watch out for Landmines.

[mattyq]

I was there in January.

Excellent place - i loved it.

I got the bus from Bangkok to the capital Vientiane which was dead easy. They give you a visa at the border for $25.

You can do a lot in 3 weeks. I'd recomend Vang Vieng, 1000 islands, Pakse and Luang Prabaang. I flew from Luang to Pakse as the roads are a bit of a nightmare and time was runnig out.

Great place and great people

[Yerma'satexan!]

Is right mate. Nice one.

 

Good news about Chiang Mai. Did you get a train from Chiang Mai? I pretty much want to do that route you have done. Would defo get to The Four Thousand Island though. How was Vang Vieng? was it full of whoppers?

 

No, got a bus from Chang Mai to the border stayed there for one night then crossed on a shitty boat the next day.

 

Vang Vieng was superb, this was 5 years now. My friend recently got back from there and from his photo's the "tubing" bit seems to have been somewhat commercialised with almost proper bars and decking on the river side, I know it's cliched to go on about how it was better back then and more rustic, and I guess it was always going to happen to a place like that. I'd still go back tomorrow. There's loads to do around the area aswell with caves and stuff. To get to Vang Vieng we had to get a bus along some infamous road called Highway 13 from Luang Prabang, where you get an armed escort, usually a teenager with a kalashnikov. This is protect you against armed bandits which operate in the area. Our guard was pointing down the bus aisle pulling the triggger scaring the shit out of everyone, then he would burst out roaring with laughter and explain how the safety catch was still on and hen leaning out of the window pretending to shoot making machine gun noises. Highway 13 was full of kids along the road side with massive machine guns, mad.

 

The two days slow boat was unreal to Luang Prabang from Thailand, buying bottles of moonshine off the locals from the Mekong river bank, Lao Lao they call, for 20p for 2 litres, trousers down drunk for two days. Stoped off after the first night at some village called Pakbeng which was basically one large opium den. Then carried on the next day to Luang Prabang. Laos is in my top 3 places I've ever been.

 

Actually I'm due a holiday, I really considering going back and going to Pakse and the four thousand islands.

[bri]

got one of the best beers as well

 

Beerlao

[stringvest]

No' date=' got a bus from Chang Mai to the border stayed there for one night then crossed on a shitty boat the next day.

 

Vang Vieng was superb, this was 5 years now. My friend recently got back from there and from his photo's the "tubing" bit seems to have been somewhat commercialised with almost proper bars and decking on the river side, I know it's cliched to go on about how it was better back then and more rustic, and I guess it was always going to happen to a place like that. I'd still go back tomorrow. There's loads to do around the area aswell with caves and stuff. To get to Vang Vieng we had to get a bus along some infamous road called Highway 13 from Luang Prabang, where you get an armed escort, usually a teenager with a kalashnikov. This is protect you against armed bandits which operate in the area. Our guard was pointing down the bus aisle pulling the triggger scaring the shit out of everyone, then he would burst out roaring with laughter and explain how the safety catch was still on and hen leaning out of the window pretending to shoot making machine gun noises. Highway 13 was full of kids along the road side with massive machine guns, mad.

 

The two days slow boat was unreal to Luang Prabang from Thailand, buying bottles of moonshine off the locals from the Mekong river bank, Lao Lao they call, for 20p for 2 litres, trousers down drunk for two days. Stoped off after the first night at some village called Pakbeng which was basically one large opium den. Then carried on the next day to Luang Prabang. Laos is in my top 3 places I've ever been.

 

Actually I'm due a holiday, I really considering going back and going to Pakse and the four thousand islands.[/quote']

 

I did almost exactly the same, stayed in a fab hotel near Chang Mai - could see the casinos across the river in Burma - then boat across into Laos, slow boat down to Luang Prabang, stopping off in gorgeous stilty digs on river, flew from LP to Vientiane for a few days, then flew again south - stopped again for 3 or 4 days and eventually ended up in 4 thousand islands. Very chilled - dossed around on motorbike for a week, then dragged back to Thailand - it was amazing how dirty and over-commercialised Thailand seemed after being in Laos for two or three weeks. Wonderful country.

 

PS I did three internal flights in Laos, all on the same plane. Laos Airlines only had one. And it wasn't great.

[Liverpool lad]

How easy it is to do this solo? It is somewhere I am thinking of going next year, but nobody will go with me

[bri]

piece of piss to do it solo. once you land, check in somewhere and have a mooch round the you just go with it. getting around is a doddle it's all set up.

 

if i had under a month i'd have a bit of a plan of things I wanted to do.

 

Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China maybe, Indonesia, Malaysia all good. It's been 8 years since I been over that way but the pehenthian islands were unreal and bukit lawang in indo for the orangatang santctury.

 

 

YouTube - Bukit Lawang Orangutan Sanctuary 2008

[Ginny]

How easy it is to do this solo? It is somewhere I am thinking of going next year, but nobody will go with me

 

 

I'm doing it solo next year. I did a trial run in Thailand on my own a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing. Just get it booked and do a bit of planning and you will be sound. It impossible not to meet people to travel with. What month are you thinking of goin?

[Liverpool lad]

Cheers lads, my month of departure is dependent on my cash flow

[Remmie]

Bump. I go back to Thailand in a month, but will certainly be getting the Slow boat into Luang Prabang and try a lot of things mentioned on here. Does anyone else have much else to add to what's already been said? Also, has anyone done much of east Thailand?

[Tyler Durden]

Isn't there floods over there?

[Remmie]

So I have heard but they didn't mention how the country has been hit outside Bangkok...

[Unrighteous]

So I have heard but they didn't mention how the country has been hit outside Bangkok...

 

Everything but Bangkok is currently flooded. Some places up to your knees... will probably be ok by the time you get there Remmie, but I was there last weekend, and it was all underwater.

[Remmie]

Hmmm, I'll be starting my trip up in the hills in Chiang Mai. The trip just got that bit more interesting!

[Ginny]

Bangkok is sound. No floods. Just flew in from Laos. Flooding is in Ayuttaya. I was in Chiang Mai 2 weeks ago and i could see a bit of marking from the flood water but no water. The news is defo making it out worse than it is. For anyone thinking of doing the Chiang Khong-Luang Prabang slow trip... You gotta do it. It is by the far one of the greatest esxperiences of my life. Sit back realx and sip a few beer lao watching some of the greatest landscape along the Meekong you will ever see. Also loads of Swedish and German birds do so if you play your cards right you might get your end wet in something other than the merky Meekong!

[Remmie]

Bangkok is sound. No floods. Just flew in from Laos. Flooding is in Ayuttaya. I was in Chiang Mai 2 weeks ago and i could see a bit of marking from the flood water but no water. The news is defo making it out worse than it is. For anyone thinking of doing the Chiang Khong-Luang Prabang slow trip... You gotta do it. It is by the far one of the greatest esxperiences of my life. Sit back realx and sip a few beer lao watching some of the greatest landscape along the Meekong you will ever see. Also loads of Swedish and German birds do so if you play your cards right you might get your end wet in something other than the merky Meekong!

Cheers mate, good to hear, any recommendations of what else to do in Laos? I'll be doing that boat trip for sure, also the tubing and 4000 islands sounds boss. Where did you fly from in Laos?

[El Rojo]

Vang Vieng was a bit of a disappointment when I was there, just loads of Australians and Americans watching Friends in the bars 24/7. The scenery around there and the rest of the country is beautful though.

 

Sunset on a small boat on the Mekong up by Luang Prabang is awesome too. Anybody can be Captain Willard.

 

I'd agree that large parts of Thailand are very underwhelming if visited just after either Laos or Vietnam.

[Scott_M]

Ginny,

 

How much did that threesome you were planning on come to?

[llego]

Great thread

[RobbieOR]

Foods in Thailand. Probably explains the lack of the bitch lately..

[Remmie]

Foods in Thailand. Probably explains the lack of the bitch lately..

The Bitch is fine I think, he is in Koh Tao which is a pretty tiny island in the ocean seeing turtles and shit. No floods there.

 

So has anyone got anything to add about Laos, places I must go to/avoid - activities/food/accommodation tips? Throw me a frickin bone here.