MT is an e-friend who travelled to Laos (plus Thailand and Cambodia) in Dec 1999-Jan 2000).

General Impressions | Itinerary & Impressions | Factual Info: General (currency, costs, transport, accom, borders etc) | Factual Info: Places Info

General impressions

Laos is surprisingly different from its neighbours. For us, Laos’ primary charm resided in its quietude, the slow pace, the somnolence of village life and the Mekong which nearly becomes a motif for Laos. We preferred the south rather than the north as we felt that it typified Laos more with the rural life style we observed compared with the historical, artistic and cultural icons of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. I’d say after talking with others that most people only visit the upper part of the country – the hill tribe areas, Luang Prabang, Vang Vien and Vientiane. Fewer travelers visit the southern regions.

Our itinerary and impressions of the places we visited

Our Laotian venture commenced in the north. We took a night bus from Bkk up to Chiang Khong and crossed over the next day to Huay Xai. The 2 day slow boat down to LP is popular – there were about 30 falangs on our boat and a sprinkling of Laos. There is little to see on this stretch as there are very few river side villages. The boat went through some minor rapids which was mildly exciting. We overnighted in Pakbeng – a large village which had a dark, brooding, smoky, tenuous atmosphere.

Everybody was excited when the boat approached Luang Prabang as most had heard from various sources that it was a gem of a town that charmed people into lingering there. It was nice, but not nearly as lovely or as interesting as Hoi An or Hue which I think of as its Vietnamese counterparts. There are lots of wats in LP , but they lack the splendour, richness or architectural complexity of Thai wats. The Laotian monks smoke and work on maintaining the wats – doing carpentery etc. They also enthusiastically beat the temple drums at 4 am and 4 pm at various times of the month. It is worthwhile crossing over the river to visit 2 wats directly opposite LP. They are interesting more for their locations, ambience and background history rather than their calibre as buildings. The former royal palace was a modest affair – a stately home rather than a palace. It intrigued me to the extent that we bought a book called "Stalking the Elephant King" which charts a quest to resolve the mystery of the disappearance and death of the last royal family. It is in effect, a good travelogue. The main street in LP contains a plethora of tourist style cafes and restaurants and souvenir shops. Watching the sun set over the Mekong is a "must-do" LP exercise and an absolute delight. We stayed at LP for 4 days and found that more than adequate.

The cave temple at Pak Ou about an hour or so up river from LP is a very modest, under-stated affair compared to those in Vietnam and Thailand. You can hire a boat to the cave with optional stops at various villages eg one where they make whisky. These villages are not pristine examples of villages exhibiting a traditional Laotian life style as they sell fabrics and various souvenirs. We hired a tuk tuk to visit a waterfall. The trip out to the falls was more interesting than the waterfall.

We flew to Phonsavan from LP. There are daily flights. We took an 8am one arriving at 9am. We flew back to LP the next day with the 3pm flight departing at 4.30. Contrary to various negative reports relating to Lao Aviation’s planes, the small Chinese plane we flew on was fine. Flights can only be confirmed the day before departure. We were advised that we weren’t on the list for our return flight. The passenger list was written in Laotian script which meant we couldn’t identify our names. However the list also included ticket numbers allowing us to demonstrate that our numbers were listed.

Upon landing at Phonsavan, we hired a car and driver at the airport and were at the first jars site before noon. We went to 5 sites with one that included little buddha statues ensconced in a jar. There was a simple eatery at I think site 3. The Plain of Jars was one of our Laotian highlights – not only for the fascinating jars but for some Hmong hill villages and to observe up close the devastation caused by American bombing. We visited villages where the people use old bomb casings for fence posts, feeding troughs for animals etc etc. We also visited the ruins of the old capital – not very interesting although the drive to it was. Phonsavan in December, was a bitterly cold town that lacked charm.

We took a bus from LP to Vang Vien. The scenery between LP and VV was incredibly dramatic as was the landscape around VV. We hired bicycles in VV. There is a fascinating narrow wooden pedestrian bridge with a gap in the middle to allow boats to pass through. One just wades through the gap, dragging the bikes with you. In other places there are only fords for crossing the river and streams. We liked VV and were sorry that we only had 2 days there.

Then on to Vientiane by bus which got a flat tyre. Vientiane, like all Laotian towns we visited, excluding LP, is dusty and very, very quiet with barely any cars. There are a couple of interesting wats which are worth checking out. There is also a sculpture park which we didn’t visit but I think it is similar to the one at Nong Khai in Thailand. Vientiane has a tattered, yet elegant ambience with some beautiful old colonial buildings. The fountain area has a peculiar charm as does the river side area where one can relax, sipping a cool drink. We spent 2 days in Vientiane – one is ample to see the key sights. We hired a tuk tuk and driver for 3 hours to visit the major wats.

After our pre-trip research, we elected to exit at the Friendship Bridge near Vientiane to Nong Khai directly across the border in Thailand and take fast buses to Ubon and re-enter Laos at Chong Mek/Pakse. People who had bused down on the Lao side from Vientiane to Pakse universally described it as a nightmare trip – awful buses, rotten roads, slow going and exceedingly dusty. Everybody we spoke to said that if they had known that you could get double entry visas for Laos and that taking the Thai side route is not going to take any longer in real travel time, they would have done so. We took a 9am bus from NK, picked up another bus at Udon Thani and were in Ubon at 5.30pm. From there you take a bus to Phibun, then a songthiew to Chong Mek. It takes about 2 hours to get from Ubon to CM.

It was fascinating comparing the wealth and prosperity of Nong Khai, compared with Laos’ capital which is just on the other side of the river. Intriguingly, we saw more beggars in NK than we did anywhere in the poorer Laos.

Another experience highlight was crossing the border at Chong Mek. CM has a very active market, selling an immensity of goods. Cross the border and the market on the Laotian side offered a paltry range of vegetables, fruit and some clothes. We climbed aboard a songthiew to take us to Pakse. The vehicle was packed with women returning from the CM market laden with eggs, fish, glass products and medicines. Why eggs and fish we wondered, when they are readily available in Laotian markets? Half way to Pakse, the bus was raided by customs. The officials confiscated all the contraband – eggs, fish, glassware, medicines - they could find. At one stage a bag containing a couple of dozen duck eggs hovered precariously over my lap as my neighbour and an official indulged in a tugging match. After the customs men departed with their loot, the women shared among themselves all the goods the officials had failed to find including the medicines that the women had concealed in their clothes. We had the impression from the women’s reactions that such customs raids were a common occurrence. There is a large market in Pakse, selling I suspect, the contraband that gets through the checks. Pakse’s charisma was on par with Phonesavanh although there were some nice mouldering old French buildings and a lovely wat with a school.

We took a boat down to Si Phan Don. It was packed with people and produce. At the conclusion of 10 hours in cramped conditions, together with sitting on the wooden deck we were sore and tired. However it was a rewarding trip, chugging along a wonderful stretch of the Mekong with delightful vistas, gliding past villages – seeing the people wash themselves and their livestock, tending their riverside gardens, fishing from canoes and children romping in the shallow waters. We stopped frequently to pick up more, yet more passengers. Isn’t it amazing that a totally full bus or in this case, boat can always squeeze in more people and goods? Each stop incorporated people flocking to the boat selling food and drinks. As always we couldn’t resist buying iced coffee in plastic bags and various nibblies.

Our base down there was Muang Kong where we stayed for 4 days and could easily have spent longer there. Further south, about 2 hours down stream, there are 2 small islands with the villages of Dong Det and Don Kong. These were prettier than Dhong Kong but they were marred by the large numbers of falangs who had gone there to party, booze and do drugs. The poor villagers looked somewhat stunned by this invasion which coincided with the New Year and a trifle aghast at how the farangs had imposed themselves without appreciating the sensitivities of local customs and the modest behaviour of the Laotians. Contrary to the information in the latest edition of the LP guide there are lots of guest houses on these islands. This area of the Mekong is the locale for the illusive Irrawaddy dolphins whose population has been depleted by the Cambodians. With our fingers crossed we hired a canoe to see if we could get a glimpse of them. For nearly an hour we watched a pod of 4-5 dolphins. Apart from the dolphins the canoe ride is fascinating taking you through some interesting waterways.

A couple of hours out of Pakse there is a village with working elephants that can be hired for rides. You get to Kiet Nyong and the head man sends out for somebody to bring in one of the elephants. It was wonderful riding an elephant whose primary job is working around the village rather than being a tourist elephant.

Champasak is a delightful little town. We didn’t stay there and I regret that. The ruins there are rather lovely, particularly at the upper levels. This site is well worth visiting even if you have overdosed at Siem Riep ie Angkor Wat etc. (We spent 6 days at SR.)

We stayed 2 days at Tadlo. Tadlo was a great place to get a feel for village life. The village below the waterfalls was one of the most picturesque we visited. You can bathe in the waterfall pools and observe all the villagers young and old who bathe, wash and fish in the waterfalls. The latter is fascinating as they use a number of different strategies to catch fish. Take one of the tracks beyond the waterfall near the guest houses – there is a much bigger waterfall further up. There were only a couple of falangs staying in the area.

Factual information – moving around, prices, places to stay etc

First I’ll give general info and then place specific info.

GENERAL INFO

Currency

Travellers tend to recommend using mostly bhat or dollars to avoid carrying around bricks of kip. There are now 5000 kip notes which decreases the bulk. We used predominantly kip and to a lesser extent, bhat. Very rarely did we use dollars. In major centres, banks will accept visa. Contrary to information in the LP guide you can cash travellers cheques at Vang Vien. Some people reported that the exchange rate was better in the north and got worse as you got closer to Vientiane. We found that the exchange rate was relatively constant throughout the country oscillating between 7,500 to 76,000 to the $US. Note I monitored the kip exchange rate on the Vientiane Times web site for a couple of months before we went.

Costs

Our average weekly expenditure was around $US165 for food, accommodation and transport plus buying the odd souvenir. This excluded the flight to Phonsavan which we paid by credit card via a travel agent in Luang Prabang. We tended to go for hotels or guest houses that had hot water which increased our costs. Most evenings we dined in restaurants and tended not to economise with what we ordered. Our evening meals ranged from $5 to $7. We mostly used stalls or markets for breakfast and lunch where costs were around a dollar or often less. Food is bland, there is little variety although in Luang Prabang we found some good restaurants offering regional specialities which were both intriguing and yummy.

Entry fees for wats etc

Much higher than cited in the LP ’98 guide. It was around 2,000 –2,500 kip in Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

Transport

Travelling from one location to another was a trifle demanding – more so than in most other SE Asian countries. Obtaining information on bus schedules was difficult. The local people either don’t know, or tell you what they think you want to hear. Buses leave when they are full. This means they may go before they are theoretically scheduled to or 1-2 hours later. Full often means very full – seats jam packed, people sitting on rice bags in the aisles etc. As I am small, I can squeeze in anywhere, taller falangs had more of a problem. The road conditions from Luang Prabang down to Vientiane were OK, as were some stretches beyond Pakse where roads are being upgraded. Elsewhere travelling can be slow and dusty. Buses break down with monotonous regularity. River transport was equally slow and crowded.

Accommodation

Surprisingly good – better, more variety and more availability than described in the latest Lonely Planet guide. Very roughly $US3-6 got us a reasonable room with attached cold water bathroom and fan. $US5-10 will give you hot water and sometimes air-con. Checking for noise is not an issue compared with other SE Asian countries as there is minimal road traffic in Laos. However the Laotians like to party and celebrated weddings etc with very loud music until 3 am in the morning. So be prepared - your guest house in a nice, quiet residential street may suddenly be blasted by a celebration in a nearby family.

Border crossings/immigration

Lao immigration officials at the 3 border posts we crossed were much friendlier and not as officious as those we confronted in Vietnam 3 years ago. You may have to pay "overtime costs" at some border crossings. At 10am on a Sunday we paid a 1500 kip tax at the Lao side and a 20 bht fee at the Thai side at Chong Mek. In December ’99, US passport holders could not cross into Laos at Huay Xai. You no longer have to report in at Luang Prabang etc etc. I don’t know about Attapeu. (See also Entering and exiting Laos from Ubon).

Tourist offices

We used a tourist office in Luang Prabang to book flights to Phonsavan. They were very efficient. The benefit in doing so was paying via visa with only a $2.00 booking fee.

We used the Vientiane Sodetour office to book accommodation at Si Phan Dong as we wanted a nice place for New Years Eve. They rang 3-4 places before they found a vacancy. They didn’t charge us a cent for this service. We received a similar high level service at Sodetour in Pakse. Its office is now at 114 Quai Fa-ngum in Pakse. It is near the Phak Tai Bank and on the road leading to the Champasak Palace Hotel. In both offices, the operations managers were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They spoke excellent English and French.

What to bring

A sleeping bag is highly recommended for some areas in northern Laos which can be bitterly cold in December and January. The blankets supplied by guesthouses won’t keep you warm. Consider bringing a sleeping sheet as only a bottom sheet is supplied in the majority of guest houses. Also a sleeping sheet helps keeps you warm.

Clothes layers including something to protect you from really cold nights in the higher areas.

Most cheap hotels and guest houses supplied toilet paper, and soap. About 50% of budget places supplied towels.

A small torch is useful. Padlocks aren’t really necessary to lock your room.

If you are a reader, enough books to keep you going. Didn’t see one book exchange place. The bookshops in Vientiane were very basic.

PLACES INFO

Chiang Kong – Thai border crossing

There are a number of ATM’s.

There are 2 piers. You need to go to the northern most one to cross over into Laos.

The Ban Thommasin guest house is lovely – 200 bht. It has a nice attached restaurant overlooking the river with relatively decent Thai food. It offers an array of traveler services. There were a couple of other similar guest houses overlooking the river, not listed in the LP guide which would be worth checking out.

Huay Xai - Lao border crossing

The now extended Aramid guest house/bungalows is about a 20 minute walk from the immigration post. It is about a 10 minute walk to the slow boat departure point. Nice bungalows for 50,000 kip with good hot water and adjacent verandahs. It has a good restaurant with a decent range of Laotian dishes. The owners speak reasonable English and better French.

Go down to the slow boat departure point around 7.30-8.00am to buy your tickets. From what we could ascertain, you can’t do this the day before. The price was 320 bht. Board the boat a little early so that you you are not stuck with sitting near the smelly engine. Many of the packs on our boat got a soaking so think about using plastic bags to protect clothes etc. Our boat did not have a toilet and it did not stop for toilet breaks. On the second day we stopped for some reason at a village for 30 mins.

Pakbeng

Sarasis hotel is the closest one to where the slow boats stop. River view rooms cost 30,000 kip a double and 20,000 kip a single. The bed in the single room is large enough to accommodate 2 people who like to sleep together. The attached bathroom is basic, with a mandi style washing facility. There is an attached restaurant with river views. The food is OK with some Lao dishes. Service is slow which is a problem if you want to breakfast before the slow boat departs around 8am. Consider instead, buying something food from the stalls.

Luang Prabang

There is a wide range of accommodation, thus I recommend that you shop around. If you arrive late in the afternoon or early evening you should take what you first find in your price range as places can be fully booked. We used the Vanvisa guesthouse located in the residential area about a 15 minute walk from the main area. It cost $US7.00 for a small room, very soft double bed, OK bathroom although the hot water system didn’t work as well as it could have done. We also stayed at the Phoun Sab hotel in the central area. Double room with very hard beds and using a shared bathroom cost $4.00. The hot water shower here was fantastic. As we traveled though Laos we learned to appreciate real hot water. A room here with attached bathroom cost $6.00. The Phoun Sab had a communal sitting area that was quite nice and an attached restaurant offering predominantly European food that we did not use. Both these places were OK. There may have been better, especially if you want to spend a lot of time in LP. Some people recommended the Symphone guesthouse at around $6.00 – run by very nice people.

Some of the best food in Laos is to be found in LP. There are a plethora of traveler style restaurants in the main street. More interesting are some good Lao restaurants beyond this area. For those who are interested in Lao food and regional specialities I recommend the following. The Indo Chine which is housed in a lovely traditional heritage building with a lovely courtyard eating area. Most evenings they have a Lao music group playing traditional instruments. The restaurant offers a good range of Lao food plus international dishes. Given the music, the ambience etc, the prices were surprising cheap – around $7.00 for two for food and drinks. Also recommended is the Nang Somchan restaurant and more so, the Mallee Lao restaurant. They both had an excellent array of regional Lao dishes – at around $7.00 including beer. The LP guide cites the Villa Santi as an interesting restaurant for Laotian food. It was good, but no better than the Nang Somchan and Mallee Lao restaurants. Villa Santi lacked the ambience of the Indo Chine and it was more expensive with a similar meal costing around $10. Luscious Laotian noodle soup, grilled meats and various savouries can be purchased in the various markets.

Vang Vien

I recommend the Nanna Guesthouse. It is about a 10-15 minute walk from the market and the bus station. It is a little gem and very different from the LP Guide description. There are bungalow style rooms with attached verandahs down a little lane way. The beds were a little hard, but the hot water was great. Cost was 30,000 kip. Staying there gives you a sense of village Laos, as the adjacent buildings are village houses. You are awoken in the early morning hours by pigs grunting, roosters shrieking children playing. The guesthouse has a street side restaurant with reasonable Laotian food. The guesthouse owners are lovely – offering free fruit juices etc when you crawl back to your room after a tiring morning of cycling etc. We checked out some OK guest houses that didn’t have the Nanna’s ambience and cost between 20,000 - 15,000 kip but with cold water.

The Tom Jang cave with a 4,000 kip entrance fee closes between 11.30-1.30. We didn’t visit any of the other caves.

Bicycle hire costs 5,000 kip for basic bikes more for ones with gears – useful as the area is not flat.

Phonsavan

We stayed in the Dou Phon hotel, relatively close to the market and restaurants. It cost $10. The hot water was cold. As we were only there for 2 days and one night we didn’t bother shopping around for anything cheaper. There are a couple of restaurants offering uninteresting food.

There are drivers at the airport offering their services. You can bargain them down somewhat. It cost us $60 for one and a half days. We hired a Russian car, it looked basic but took us over some nasty roads.

Vientiane

We stayed in one of the up market hotels, Royal Dokmaideng for Christmas. It was OK for a splurge and good if you are there when it is hot as there is a swimming pool. A couple of people recommended the Saysouly guesthouse on the quiet Manthatulath Rd. Rooms with hot water and I think air con were about $8-$10.

If you have had a surfeit of Asian food, you might want to try some of Vientiane’s French restaurants. I doubt whether there is much to choose between them. You can buy wine by the glass. There are a couple of restaurants offering Lao specialities. We opted for the Soukvimane restaurant and tried some dishes we hadn’t seen elsewhere. Delicious food – cost $10 including drinks.

Hiring a tuk tuk and driver for 3 hours to take us around a variety of wats cost 22,000 kip.

Nong Khai - Thailand

Mutmee guesthouse. A nice place to relax and re-charge travelling energy. The cheaper rooms are 170 bht, river side ones more expensive. The cheaper quarters are basic and dark. The shared bathrooms create the impression of village bathing areas, thus charming yet slightly ineffective. There is a lovely garden area overlooking the river and a good restaurant. There are some nice restaurants near the major market and overlooking the river.

Tuk tuks from the Friendship bridge to NK – they initially quote 100 bht, they don’t go below 40 bht.

Ubon – Thailand

The Tokyo hotel is highly recommended as it is off the street, thus quiet. The old building has spartan, yet clean rooms for around 200 bht. The new building has a range of rooms at various prices. The 350 bht rooms come with TV, air-con, good beds, blankets, sheets, nice bathroom with tons of hot water. The manager speaks excellent English and is very helpful.

The train station is a 50 bht tuk tuk ride from Ubon city. It has a very good booking service. Note that the trains to Bkk stop at Don Muang, the Bkk airport train station.

The northern bus station is not located in the area described in the latest LP guide. It was about a 15-20 minute walk to the Tokyo Hotel.

Entering and exiting Laos from Ubon

The buses from Ubon to Phibun if you are heading to the Chong Mek Laotian border are no longer in the place described in the ’98 LP guide. This bus station is across the river, close to a large market. It is a 50 bhat ride from the centre of the city. You can immediately transfer to a songthiew at Phibun to head to CM. It is about 30 minutes from Ubon to Phibun and then about 45-60 minutes to CM.

There is accommodation at Phibun and CM.

The Thai immigration post is behind the northern left hand side of the CM market when you come from Phibun. There is a currency exchange office in the large building that houses the Lao immigration post but you may need to ask the Lao immigration people to find the money man for you. You can change kip to bhat here.

Pakse

The cost of the songthiew from the border to Pakse about a one hour trip was 3,000 kip.

Accommodation possibilities in Pakse are surprisingly limited. Popular with independent travelers and international aid organisation staff is the Vannapha guesthouse. This is about a 15 minute walk from the short and long distance boat departure point. Vannapha offers a range of tatty, somewhat grubby rooms with either fans or air con. The bathrooms in the 3 rooms we rented over several stays were none too clean. Prices oscillated from 30,000- 50,000 kip dependent upon the room and whether business was booming for the manager. There is a courtyard with tables and chairs. There is an attached simple eatery although we failed in all our attempts to get food or drinks there.

There are a number of outlets in the market and near the ferry area where you can buy food including baguettes with all the fillings – savoury meat etc or condensed milk. There are some good pho type places scattered around the town. There are a couple of eateries popular as falang meeting points with rather boring menus. Contrary to the description in the LP guide, the Champasak Palace Hotel’s restaurant was disappointing with a limited menu and fairly expensive food, given what you got. Much better was the Mai Kham which has moved to a new location. It offers splendid Chinese food (contrary to the LP’s description as a Vietnamese restaurant) – brilliant duck dishes at surprisingly decent prices. Local Laotian business people entertain visiting Thais there. It is also popular with people from international aid organisations.

Si Phan Dong

The boat from Pakse was scheduled to leave at 8.am, and departed at 9.30. The boat cost 20,000 kip. It arrived at 6.30 at Muang Kong. It cost a 2,500 kip per person to get a tuk tuk to the other side of the island where most of the guest houses are. This was about a 45 minute trip.

A range of upper, mid level and budget hotel accommodation is available. We stayed first in the Dong Kong guesthouse for 25,000 kip. We had a large airy room, with a somewhat basic shared bathroom. There was also a nice verandah area.

We moved over to the Villa Kang Khong. This was the best value for money place we stayed in Laos. Consider booking ahead as this place is in demand. 30,000 kip gave us a luxurious, large airy room containing a nice big bed with great sheets, pillows, blankets, mosquito net, wardrobes, and a comfortable lounge area within the room. The bathroom facilities, albiet with cold water were excellent. This traditional converted teak home had a lovely internal lounge and an outside verandah overlooking the river. Mine host supplied fantastic breakfasts including fruit, lots of coffee, baguette and eggs for 11,000 kip. This was better value than breakfasts offered in adjacent eateries. The manager spoke good French and fairly limited English.

Day boat trip to the southern islands

We shared a boat with about 8 others. It cost 15,000 kip each. We left around 8am and returned around 6pm. A number of guest houses offer this service. Canoes which take a maximum of 3 people can be hired to see the dolphins. The price per canoe is 30,000 kip. Some of the canoe men demand more after the trip so ensure that you agree on the price before you take off.

Champasak

Around an hour or so from Pakse if you go by bus, and 2-3 hours if you take the boat. You can pick up the boat at Champasak to head down to Si Phan Don. There appeared to be some good guest houses at Champasak including at least one overlooking the river. There are some nice restaurants serving Lao food and great fruit drinks.

You can hire bicycles to get from Champasak to the ruins. It is a hot, very hot 30 plus minute cycle out to the ruins.

Tadlo

It is about a 2 hour bus ride from Pakse. Buses depart from the northern bus station which requires a tuk tuk from Pakse. It is about a 20 minute walk from where the bus drops you to the Tadlo guest houses and waterfall. Better to take a tuk tuk if you arrive late in the morning when it is hot. There are 3 accommodation possibilities – a guest house just after the village before you cross the bridge. Over the bridge there are two options - a fairly basic guesthouse with no waterfall views and a more up market range of bungalows with splendid views. The latter are a little expensive – around $40. Both these places now share a common restaurant. A new restaurant complex is planned. This restaurant with a simple range of Lao and international food is better and only slightly more expensive than the simple eatery at the guest house on the other side of the bridge.

There is now only one elephant available for rides and he had been ill for about 2 weeks – so no rides.