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 Traveller's Tales: Getting around in Laos
Know the most popular landmarks in Laos. You may read about best transportation, recommended travel itinerary, suggested routes and directions. Also, you might want to read our
Luang Prabang city guide,
and Vientiane city guide.
Pages (1 of 4):
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| R Horgan |
02 June 2005 |
Stayed at La Residence Phou Vao - Luang Prabang, Laos.
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Luang Prabang was not what I expected. It was smaller, older, more rural than I imagined. There are many picturesque views in and around LP, and I had seen photos from other travellers posted on websites. I guess it led to an unrealistic expectation that beauty would surround me at every turn. The truth is that the Mekong is muddy, many of the streets in LP are dusty, and the Wats are not in the best repair (especially after I'd seen so many impressive temples in Thailand).
Having said that, once you start to explore Luang Prabang and the surrounding area, you find lots of natural beauty.
The hill in the centre of town (I just can't think of the name right now) offers spectacular views of the surrounding town and countryside.
There are basically two places to visit in the area: Kuang Si Waterfall and Pak Ou Caves.
The Kuang Si Waterfall is spectacular. We spent two hours there, but I could have happily spent the entire day. It is peaceful and you can shoot an entire roll of film (or fill a memory card) trying to capture all of its unique beauty.
The caves were only mildly interesting in my opinion -- the main reason to visit them was to have an excuse to cruise on the Mekong River with fantastic views of mountains exposed with every bend in the river.
We ate at a couple of restaurants in town, and while the food was good (the highlight was the "Luang Prabang Salad")the service was a poor quality. I spent many weeks in Thailand ahead of this trip to Laos, and the Thais offer a very high level of service everywhere. In Cambodia a couple of weeks earlier the service was not refined, but there were lots of people ready to assist you. In Luang Prabang I found that the servers were inattentive, sometimes surly, and often simply not to be found.
We booked the trip to the Pak Ou Caves through a local travel agent a day ahead (though you can just walk up to the river and grab a boat if you want). The agent arranged a pickup at our hotel, and delivery to the riverside. We were then parked on a hard wooden bench with a German couple where we waited for about an hour with no explanation except that another passenger was coming. When the bench got too hard the four of us in turns asked the fellow coordinating our trip what was going on. He squirmed and mumbled, but generally just kept walking away. I kept following him until he finally said he would jump on his motorcycle and go ask his boss what to do. This didn't happen -- finally the four of us were loaded on the boat 90 minutes later than scheduled departure, without the mysterious missing customer.
This seemed to be a pretty normal approach to service in LP, which is really just a village trying to figure out how to cater to the spectrum of visitors that range from backpackers who consider indoor plumbing to be a blessing, to well-heeled travellers who are accustomed to having everything done for them.
I'm probably in the middle somewhere, but I was often surprised when a van or a boat would deliver several of us to a destination, park or tie up, then let us off with no explanation about which way to go, or any hint about what to do. Even the backpackers would look around in confusion and ask, "Which way do we go?". This happened at EVERY location I visited.
If all this sounds like I didn't enjoy Luang Prabang, I must say that I enjoyed it very much. It is real Laos -- not a slicked up version of Asia for western tourists to visit. It is surrounded by incredible natural beauty, and the trip was one of the highlights of my time in South East Asia.
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| R Wedderburn |
12 February 2005 |
Stayed at Lao Plaza Hotel, Vientiane - Vientiane, Laos.
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I was only there for 1 day but enjoyed it. Vientiane is a fairly sleepy capital on the river. I went to see most of the local tourist attractions which were easily accessible. Budha park is way outside of town and not worth the visit IMHO if you only have 1 day.
I ate dinner at a simple restaurant on the river. The fresh fish and sauce was out of this world. The meal along with beers and an entree for my driver was less than $5. Unfortunately, I don't have the name of the restaurant but there are many places along the river. Don't be afraid to venture out.
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| A Wilczek |
30 December 2004 |
Stayed at Villa Santi Resort - Luang Prabang, Laos.
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Luang Prabang is awesome and I am very glad I went. People are very friendly and I felt very safe. One day we did the 4 hour cave tour and 4 hour waterfall tour in one day. These two tours will cost you about $50 per person at the hotel (ripoff)or you can go anywhere in town and get the same trip for $10. I highly recommend the restaurant Nazim as it has great indian food. I would also recommend the crepe place for a snack, a bit expensive but a nice european touch. I would also recommend renting a bike for the day as it is a great way to see the city and tour the temples/wat's and at $1 a day it is the best bargain there is. I loved this city and can't wait to get back.
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| E Brodal |
17 November 2004 |
Stayed at Asian Pavilion Hotel - Vientiane, Laos.
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Vientiane is a quiet and laidback city (compared to other asian capitals anyway). I also found it quite friendly. Major attractions are easily available by foot. I particulary liked Wat Si Saket. Other places worth seeing are places like Pha That Luang, Morning Market and the National museum. I spent about three days in Vientiane before moving to Luang Prabang further north.
Luang Prabang was really beautiful. I spend six days there, including daytrips to the caves and waterfalls. The trip to the Pak Ou caves was by slowboat on the Mekong river and included stop in villages like a Hmong village. I just went down to the pier where the boats to the caves started, and hired a boat for the day (we where three persons paying US$10 each). I think the rivertrip to the caves is just as interesting as the caves themselves, because of the beautiful scenery along the river. In Luang Prabang itself I particulary enjoyed the Royal Palace Museum, Phu Si hill and Wat Xieng Thong. Or just strolling the peninsula between Mekong River and river Nam Khan. I would also recommend to rent a bike (several guesthouses have bikes for rent for about US$1.50 per day) to explore the city and its surroundings at least for one day.
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| J Brownjohn |
06 January 2004 |
Stayed at Settha Palace Hotel - Vientiane, Laos.
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With wider knowledge of the visa on arrival scheme I expect the place to pace of change to increase. Just remember to pick up the VOA form at Bangkok or wherever and get to the front of the queue at Wattay.
My latest LP guide gave prices that are already out of date: jumbos won't easily budge below $1 (OK they ask $2 but you know they're trying it on) and car+driver is not easy to find for as little as $10 more than LP upper bound figures.
The morning market is being spoilt by busloads of rich US tourists (when they arrived the stallholders immediately ignored my Asian wife). Prices are rather high, almost comparable to Bangkok and bargaining, even by an expert is hard.
Eating out is very cheap and continental food is good; e.g. we were very impressed by Cote d'Azur. We did not risk the roadside stalls and my wife was not too impressed by the Lao food. For me, I could not complain at $1 for a litre of excellent laobeer, while watching sunset over the Mekong. Vientiane is peaceful, people are friendly and easy going and I had a very relaxing stay.
My wife enjoyed visiting the weaving commune (enchanting for me to watch the ladies at work). On the way back from a relaxing day at Nan Ngum lake we stopped at a market selling all kinds of animals and animal components.
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| D Furlong |
21 December 2003 |
Stayed at Settha Palace Hotel - Vientiane, Laos.
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One of the hotel staff organised a car and driver for us for the day to tour the region (Buddah park, temples, Morning market, friendship bridge, lunch, more temples...) Vientianne is quite primitive and there really isn't that much to do and see (1 or max 2 days will do you). Be careful walking the streets and pavements (where they exist!) as there are a lot of open holes. Everything (over)priced in US$ - generally prices are way way too expensive. Worth the detour: Phaeng Mai Gallery - for handwoven silks. Absolutely fantastic - expensive but definitely high quality. (take a taxi - 5 to 10 minutes from centre).
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| J Rubin |
12 August 2003 |
Stayed at Novotel Vientiane - Vientiane, Laos.
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Took tuk-tuk round the town. Bargain with the drivers. Also there is boat trip along Mekong River, from pier leaving at 5.30pm. It's free and you only pay for drinks. Vientiane is a very pleasant town. For those who like Indian food, there are some very good, cheap Indian restaurants. Everyone in Laos prefers payment in $US or Thai baht to the local currency (Kip). Take lots of $US or Thai baht in small denominations ($1, $5, 10 or 20 baht) to avoid getting change in Kip (that can't be changed when you leave the country). Whatever you do DON'T stay in a 'resort' called DANSAVANH, 1.5 hours by road outside Vientiane. The facilities promised there don't exist and it is just a place for Malaysians to go gambling.
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| S Mendis |
17 July 2003 |
Stayed at Asian Pavilion Hotel - Vientiane, Laos.
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I went into Laos by land from Thailand. You can catch a domestic Thai Airways flight to Udon Thani from Bangkok for less than half the cost of a flight to Wattay airport in Vientiane, as well as more frequent flight availability. Thai Airways operates a shuttle bus (100 Baht) from the airport to the border at Nong Khai - the drive takes about 45 minutes. You can get a visa-on-arrival at the border for US$31. Vientiane city is about 20 minutes by tuk-tuk (150 Baht) on the other side. A cheaper and more flexible option than flying directly.
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| P English |
16 March 2003 |
Stayed at Villa Santi Hotel, The - Luang Prabang, Laos.
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Great town and people, good night market at top of town, textiles and food may only be on weekends. Hired a moped and went to waterfalls, which were amazing, but be prepared for a unpaved road halfway there - leaves you a little saddle sore! But the views on the way of rice paddies and small villages were worth the pain!
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| P Garrett |
12 December 2002 |
Stayed at Villa Santi Hotel, The - Luang Prabang, Laos.
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Overall didn't find Lao-cuisine to be as exciting as either of its neighbours Vietnam and Thailand. However we ate well in the nearaby French-run L'Elephant and a cafe under the same ownership directly oppositte from Santi (adjacent to Blue House). There are loads of other cafes catering to backpackers etc - but although promising-looking gastronomically not very notable.
There are also loads of tours on boats and other 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles going to "the waterfalls" and "Buddha cave" - but we felt that the range of tourist activities was not yet well developed - everyone was being shunted through the same two places. So we took a guided Merc from Diethelm Travel (one of only 5 in Luang Prabang) and fixed our own tour up into the hills - very worthwhile, and still good value. It was an ideal 3 night trip - longer and you better bring some good books, or start working on writing that novel...
Bangkok Airways offered their usual smooth service on our route from Chiang Mai via Sukhothai into Luang Prabang, and back to BKK. Backpackers also arrive on the boats up the Mekong - but having viewed their seaworthiness I'll personally wait a few years until they've got something a little more comfortable in service - at which point I'd definitely give it a try.
Shopping-wise there are a lot of the same product that many Asia regulars will know from BKK's JJ's market - slightly cheaper, but few fresh discoveries. However at the Hmong market (and elsewhere in town) look out for the attractive hand-made bedspreads and cushion covers. There are some nice silks and silk hangings to be had. And on a design front the two silhouette figures that occur in a lot of the work could probably give the writers of X-Files a few script ideas (you'll see what I mean!).
There are some nice paper products including lanterns and decent-value large format photo albums or scrapbooks. The silverware described in the guidebooks however was of disappointing quality - most looked like it had been knocked up in school first-year metalwork classes. One shop was an exception with some nice bracelets etc that looked like they'd been constructed with love rather than haste!
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