I Want To Visit Laos - Luang Prabang And Vientiane

[retep1]

I want to fly from Bangkok to Luang Prabang where I want to stay 4 - 5 days + visit the temples and other historical places. Furthermore I will add annother 4 days in Vientiane.

Need some informations :

1. Good Hotel in Luang Prabang - not cheep Charly one !

2 Is it easy to hire a tuk tuk driver on daily base ? How much ? Places to visit.

3 Are my 4 -5 days sufficent ?

3 Dollar or Baht

4 I would like to travel from Luang Prabang to Vientiane by taxi in order to visit some

interesting places. 1 or 2 days trip?

Any other specifications regarding LAOS are highly wellcommed.

I hope that somebody can give me some answers.

Many thanks in advance.

Peter

[BigSnake]

Go for it, it's nice and quite over there, we went for a week just to relax and relax we did.

[Kruang]

It's a fairly long trip from Luang Prabang down to Vientiane, nearly 400 km. But Vang Vieng is a nice stopping point, a little more than half way to Vientiane. It's a popular backpacker destination, but despite that it's a great place to go kayaking on the Mekong, particularly during the rainy season when the river is high and the current is strong. You can rent a kayak and get trucked about 15 km up the river and then have a leisurely paddle back to Vang Vieng with the good downstream current. The scenery is nice and there are a few riverside restaurants along the way. There are interesting river trips out of Luang Prabang as well.

It really is a delightful trip, one of my favorite in SE Asia. Enjoy.

[technocracy]

I want to fly from Bangkok to Luang Prabang where I want to stay 4 - 5 days + visit the temples and other historical places. Furthermore I will add annother 4 days in Vientiane.

Need some informations :

1. Good Hotel in Luang Prabang - not cheep Charly one !

2 Is it easy to hire a tuk tuk driver on daily base ? How much ? Places to visit.

3 Are my 4 -5 days sufficent ?

3 Dollar or Baht

4 I would like to travel from Luang Prabang to Vientiane by taxi in order to visit some

interesting places. 1 or 2 days trip?

Any other specifications regarding LAOS are highly wellcommed.

I hope that somebody can give me some answers.

Many thanks in advance.

Peter

1) Hmmm depends on HOW much you want spend! Since you could always stay at Mick Jaggers favourite holiday hotel La Residence Phou Vao but you are talking nearly $300 per night. There is numerous other $50 upwards hotels but I am not going to try going through them take a look at the review on Trip advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g295415-...ang-Hotels.html - they are a pretty accurate reflexion in my opinion -Although I though Phousi hotel was decent enough (asia rooms reviews rate it better)- but then again I don't really spend much time in rooms when I stay in hotels. The Phousi hotel is a central as you'll get.

2) Dead easy - but most of what there is too see in Luang Prabang is easy walking distances. The things on the outer edges are waterfalls and the elephant sancuary where you can go riding elephants if you want. The buddha caves (which I forget the name of) is one of the main trips which is made by boat - although in my personal opinion they aren't worth the effort!

3) 4-5 days in Luang Prabang - it's whistle stop sure but you'll be able see pretty much everything.

3 again . . ) Kip! You get conned by the inflated exchange rates in shops and bars paying with $ or baht. Also the $ is worth down to mid 8000 kip - it used to be in excess of 10,000 so tuk tuk drivers don't really want it these days! Baht has always be around the 275-280 kip level. The general rule of thumb is use kip to buy everyday stuff and pay bills etc but if you buy anything expense use baht. The only thing you need $ for is to pay for your visa don't forget - or you'll get screwed paying with baht. The departing airport tax although they say $10 you can pay with kip or baht and the exchange rate is normal unlike the visa!

4) Hmmmm what do you want to visit? The actual drive from Luang Prabang is a full 8-12 hours depending on the vehicle you are in and how many stops you make. So ideally you need 1 day just to make the trip. Between Vientiane and Luang Prabang the most notable this is Vang Vieng a few days hire a motorbike and explore the caves and the surrounding of this 'backpackerville' is worth it. Also the tubing in the river is very good fun! There is many small villages along the way Kasi has some great views over Vang Vieng otherwise once you get on the mountain road these isn't much to see. Well that is unless you want to go into a small village and stay there for night?

As for Vientiane stuff I've posted loads of stuff on previous threads have a look through my posts and you find them!

[abdulrahman]

It's a fairly long trip from Luang Prabang down to Vientiane, nearly 400 km. But Vang Vieng is a nice stopping point, a little more than half way to Vientiane. It's a popular backpacker destination, but despite that it's a great place to go kayaking on the Mekong, particularly during the rainy season when the river is high and the current is strong. You can rent a kayak and get trucked about 15 km up the river and then have a leisurely paddle back to Vang Vieng with the good downstream current. The scenery is nice and there are a few riverside restaurants along the way. There are interesting river trips out of Luang Prabang as well.

It really is a delightful trip, one of my favorite in SE Asia. Enjoy.

Not to be pedant,but.....

The mighty Mekong is some,many Kilometers downriver!

[Kruang]

The mighty Mekong is some,many Kilometers downriver!

Quite right. It's the Nam Xong river. Thanks for the correction.

[lannarebirth]

My recommendation is that you save your trip for non peakk tourist season. Luang Phrabang is swarming with tourists at present and it makes it very hard to enjoy what is special about this lovely place which is dam_n near ruined now.

A good way to spend the day, is to hire a driver, go to the local market, stock up on pens, pencils notebooks, water bottles, chalk and chalkboards, candy, etc., and head up to the Hmong villages in the mountains. Most of the local schools have no supplies (save for foreign sponsored ones). and everyting you can think of is needed. If you skip the overpriced hotel experience and stay at a nice guesthouse, you can pay for all this with the savings. You'll be doing a good deed, feel wonderful about it and see a good deal of beautiful countryside.

[ham]

Peter.....this is Vang Vien, stay a few day's. My picture from november 07. Might be touristy in this time now "high season"? Anyway worth to stop there, don't miss it.

ham

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[retep1]

My recommendation is that you save your trip for non peakk tourist season. Luang Phrabang is swarming with tourists at present and it makes it very hard to enjoy what is special about this lovely place which is dam_n near ruined now.

A good way to spend the day, is to hire a driver, go to the local market, stock up on pens, pencils notebooks, water bottles, chalk and chalkboards, candy, etc., and head up to the Hmong villages in the mountains. Most of the local schools have no supplies (save for foreign sponsored ones). and everyting you can think of is needed. If you skip the overpriced hotel experience and stay at a nice guesthouse, you can pay for all this with the savings. You'll be doing a good deed, feel wonderful about it and see a good deal of beautiful countryside.

I have planned my trip to Laos for next november only. Thank you very much for your proposal with the pens etc . I will definitely do it !

Thanks again

Peter

[retep1]

Peter.....this is Vang Vien, stay a few day's. My picture from november 07. Might be touristy in this time now "high season"? Anyway worth to stop there, don't miss it.

ham

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Your photos of Vang Vien are very nice and I have forsean to stay a few days in this region. I have planned to go in November / Dezember only. So I have still time to collect some informatiions from

different people.

Khoun Peter