patient

I stay at a pretty strict forest monastery with limited access to electrical power. I need to charge my iPod which I use for learning thai.

Any suggestions for solar panels in udon city or nong khai (on my way to get my visa) would be appreciated or just ask someone to bring one next time they are coming from overseas.

Apologies but I won't be able to respond until my next visa run in two months.

Cheers

"Good 'wife'"??? You didn't take your own along from Thailand? They have "wives" for rent there??

Hmmm, guess I'll look at that hotel next trip....

Mac

haha

nice freudian slip by me ...suppose to be wifi,

for others following this topic, here is an update:

i crossed over the bridge into Laos on monday afternoon directly from leaving Udon. and there was a delay! for about 45 minutes we were stuck on the bridge due to lots of petrol tankers also crossing. it was hot and frustrating (mainly because many cars would over take on the other lane and we were stuck). eventually the driver took the risk and did like wise and we managed to about 3/4 of the way over the bridge. a foreigner asked the driver to open the doors and he got off, i quickly followed suit and so did a number of thais/lao nationals. and we walked the last 10 minutes. it was cooler outside (say 2pm) than inside the bus! so it was a good thing i did crossed the day before!

i caught the local bus at a cost of 6,000 kip to the central bus station. then went to look for hotels. one was very cheap 100K Kip but no wife. a couple of others were 175K and 165K. then i settled on Khamkhoun Hotel for 135,000 Kip including eggs toast and coffee for breakfast. i like the location, very small room but just to sleep is fine. and next door is the Talat Sao Mall where one of the cafes has great coconut smoothies. they were closing up but after some pleading they made two for me , i left a generous tip that night and again in the morning when i ordered two more for the bus ride to the airport.

in the morning after breakfast and purchasing the smoothies i went to the bus station and hoped on the bus to the airport (i located the correct bus stand when i arrived the previous afternoon from the friendship bridge). the ride in peak hour traffic (about 8.25 am) was 10 minutes ithought it would be much longer, so was please.

the bus drops you off outside the entrance to the airport and i walked about 5 minutes to the international terminal. a very small line but disorganised with people jumping ahead. i showed the counter staff my downloaded airasia ticket on my mobile and passport. they weighed my carry on luggage then i was done. say 10 minutes in all. through customs and security then sitting down waiting for the plane in a very crowded departure lounge for 1/2 an hour.

so cheap and smooth journey, thanks for the tips everyone.

lovelaos;

​

i was speaking from MY personal experience...but it was also an anecdote from one just hotel experience: villa Sisavad. usd price is $17 on agoda, or $15 if you email them directly http://www.villasisavad.com/. but when it came time to pay on checkout i only had $14 usd or a $20 USD and they would not give change. the price quoted if i paid in Kip was higher but i dont remember the sum just that it was excessive.

this time i went to three hotels and settled on http://orchidhotelgroup.com/lao/pinkorchid.php "Khamkhoun Hotel". it was very close to the bus station where i caught the bus early the next morning to the airport. all three/four hotels i saw quoted me in kip and offered USD as an option. so i guess villa sisavad is an outliner, i would stay there again even though it is far from the city (relatively speaking) i really liked it and they have a beautiful swimming pool, good wife and great tv

cheers

thanks Mac

Thanks for all the great advice.

If I can find a bank with small USD books I will stay in Vientiane and enjoy a great coconut smoothie. But today the banks only offered large $100 USD bills - maybe I only tried in central plaza (air conditioning) kept me indoors. Will try again on main street tomorrow. Hotels in Vientiane want USD or charge a premium same as for VISA payment.

Yes air Asia flight and I do mention cost of VISA in my post. Due to the fact it is a last minute decision this is the cheapest option.

Thanks Tom!

GReat to have this insight. Really grateful.

Thus is why I love Thaivisa...such good info. ...

I would like to confirm I can actually cross at 7AM. For some reason I imagined the Laos border/ immigration office didn't open until around 8AM.

Cheers

PS 6AM is quite late for me ...I spend most of my time in a Thai forest monastery ...

yep and cheaper too.

i just booked including fee for $70 aud for tues - although typically it will be more than that during the month-that seems the lowest price and a great saving (before visa/hotel costs) compared with udon -> don muang -> KL

yep, you are quite right craig, no point risking an accident delaying the process and then missing the flight.

cheers

yeah, i actually managed to forget it was international..how silly is that... the time is so short and being from Australia, all international flights tend to be (except to NZ) very long...to me it seemed like a domestic flight...oops! i

Do you think I can leave udon early in the morning and arrive at the Vientiane airport in time for a 9.45 AM flight to KL?

Or best to stay overnight...

ok thanks everyone

no more free refundable tickets it seems...they alll charge

. seems easiest is a cheap tix...good thing air asia just started another sale!

thanks all. some goos tips.

seems like biz class is the way to go with credit card.

Puu...purpose of ticket is to avoid any immigration entry issue

Uhuh...am i correct to assume LH is Lufthansa airlines..do u have any experience of a refund from them...any fees like thai has with 2000B.

cheers.

i will be taking the train to malaysia soon and will book a flight back but may end up taking train back too.so i wld like to know (and hope others find it useful too) peoples different experiences in obtaing a refund for a refundable airline ticket purchase.

maybe some airlines are faster to pay the refund than others. maybe there are some good tips you could share eg book direct with airline website.. maybe some horror stories too...so i/we can avoid the same headache.

cheers

thx again all. wdr very informative. great help.

as for asinine (sic) unsolicited judgements...take a chill pill or keep yr impolite judgements to yourself. i am aware of seat61 and used it. i wwas looking for personal impressions of that partcular route due to safety warnings and to see if anyone here caan recommend any other train rides from their own experience. but thx for yr useful comments re train journey and comparative prices beetween both countries...i am ignorant on both.

am i greedy ...u bet but who isnt too some degree. my fav website bback in Oz is called ozbargain and seems to me electronis r cheaper in Oz cf thailand. i heard something about high duties on electronics in LOS so thougght to visa run as well as shop and sightsee all together.

thanks all.

and especially wdr..great to know about Batam...never heard of it before...(which is why thaivisa forumn are great) i assume visa very easy for a one day stay (oz passport) dont worry if u dont know though i will look into it. probably go to IMBI first then down to batam to compare prices.

cheers

oh ... that was a shock Ubonjoe.i didnt know that. i had mistakenly thought double enry vissa wld be no problem. cheers

on my visa run in 10 days i want to travel a bit (by train mainly) and buy an ipod and android tablet and mifi/wireless router and some good quality camping gear. can you recommend cheap and reliable places to buy...i have been reading about Malaysia becoming a dutyfree destination so think it will be cheaper than thailand.

has anyone taken the train from johor bharu or kl to Wakaf bharu and back. Wakaf is the last train stop before Khota Bharu ...border crossing into thailand. dont plan to cross there due to security problem but retn to K for train up the other side.

thankx harry i will look into that...good idea

thankx harry i will look into that...good idea

rhanks DB.for the tips!

3 last questions...is it cold on the train...i wish to travel as light as possible.

and can you recommend place/s to stay in penang for a night.

have you ever caught the scenic train to Khota Bahru via Wakafub Bahru...seat61 has some positive reviews. i wld not cross the border but wld take train back doen to johor...due to safety concerns

cheers

thanks heaps eveyone, aappreciate yr advice.

can i reserve a train 35 berth at udon but pay for it when i arrive at Hualomphong station

were you able to book return from penang/butterworthds at a thai station or only fom malaysian railway website..

ok offtopic quet...do u do yr electronic shopping in /alay to save on duty

can anyone recommend where to buy android tablet and ipod in malaysia?

cheers

thanks heaps eveyone, aappreciate yr advice.

can i reserve a train 35 berth at udon but pay for it when i arrive at Hualomphong station

were you able to book return from penang/butterworthds at a thai station or only fom malaysian railway website..

ok offtopic quet...do u do yr electronic shopping in /alay to save on duty

can anyone recommend where to buy android tablet and ipod in malaysia?

cheers

i hold an australian passport and my one yr o visa for thailand is ending and decided to do visa run (planning on double entry tourist visa in KL or Penang) and brief holiday/electronics shopping in malaysia. i m not sure how or when i will return eg 1 week or 10 days. how strict is immigration on the bkk to butterworth train (no. 35) or at the border?

wld proof of train ticket from johur (cheapest option) to woodlands in singapore be sufficient or shld i purchase refundable air ticket; if latter optioon is best can anyone recommend an airline with online refund function and/ or low creditcard charges?

many thanks

can you recommend any programs or is online the best choice eg google? platform is flexible as i will be buyimg hardware soon and it will in part depend on software choice.

7" tablet eg nexus or samsung and mobile wifi router as discussed in earlier post . also may get electric shaver ...another option is to buy at true shop then get tax refund when crossing border though i know nothing of how that works.