Udon To Vientiane

[sucher]

hi there

can someone please give me advise how to get from udon airport to vientiane.is the border open 24 hours.thanks

[GungaDin]

There are usually 5 or 6 private taxis waiting to take you to the border, not expensive, either.

Border open 24 hrs? I don't know.

Have 30USD? on you to pay for the Lao visa.

Baht is accepted all over V.

Edited January 18, 2010 by GungaDin

[JohanV]

There's a limousine service ( that's a minibus actually ) from Udon Airport to Nong Khai 3 times/day in connection with

flights arriving from BKK. It's about 150 baht. If you ask them they can drop you off right at the border station at the Friendship Bridge.

You buy the tickets inside the airport hall by a counter. Just ask for 'limousine service to Nong Khai'.

Yes, it is a good idea to have USD 30.00 in cash as the 'exchange rate' by the Lao border is about 50 baht/dollar.

You apply for a visa-on-arrival. Costs between 30 - 35 dollar depending on what country you're from.

You do not need any 'help' from all the people who will approach you to 'fix your visa' as it is really simple.

All you need is a passport photo, about 30.00 USD in cash and the ability to fill in a simple form when entering Laos.

The border is definitely closed at night. I think ( but don't know for shure ) that it closes around 10.00 PM and opens around 6:00 AM.

If you go early in the morning or after 6:00 PM you have to pay one dollar 'overtime' fee as well ( in Laos that is ).

The shuttle bus across the bridge is 20 baht each way.

At the Lao border station you will find lots of 'VIP taxis' ( old rusty wrecks ) taking you to downtown Vientiane for about 200 - 400 baht.

It is a 20 km ride. The choice of restaurants in Vientiane is excellent. A good breakfast place is the Scandinavian Bakery by the fountain.

( yes, every tuk-tuk/taxi driver knows 'the fountain' ). However, in my experience the Vientiane tuktuks are more exoensive than in Bangkok

and everybody always try and rip you off. Don't accept change in Lao 'kip'. You can't change it back to baht.

Also, use the ATM's at the border station. You might not be able to find any other ATM's in Vientiane, and bank transfers ( withdrawals ) can

take up to two working days!. And make sure you have your bahts in small change 20's, 50's and 100's. A 1000 baht bill can force you to get

kips in return. The rate is 2000-2500 kip <-> 10 baht. So, 25000 kip is a 100 baht etc.

A nice place to stay for a night in Nong Khai is the Pantawee Hotel. You can get a room for around 800 baht.

They have a good 24 hour restaurant and good service. But there are of course cheaper alternatives, too.

A TukTuk from the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai 'center' ( the town is really small ) is about 80 baht.

Good Luck

Edited May 6, 2010 by JohanV

[Zeid]

just came back from there and teh only thing i have to add is that visa has a surcharge of 2usd for over time,

so if you arrive late make sure you have extra 2 usd