Hey guys

Wondering if anyone has some suggestions on the best way of travelling to Laos (viettene) from Ubon Ratchathani. At first I thought it would be a simple jaunt across the river but it seems that we will have to head north in thailand for some distance before we can cross the border!

So any info would be great - and if anyone has stayed there before and found a decent place to stay then magic -- cheers all!

I went to Laos for a day trip with my wife once before. We drove up there from Udon Thani. It took about an hour. We got the visa and relevant requirements right in town. The town on the border is the town of NongKhai. There are some great restaurants in Laos. The ones I found were located in a circle around a non-working water fountain.

I went to Laos for a day trip with my wife once before. We drove up there from Udon Thani. It took about an hour. We got the visa and relevant requirements right in town. The town on the border is the town of NongKhai. There are some great restaurants in Laos. The ones I found were located in a circle around a non-working water fountain.

Try La Opera in that exact location for the best italian in Vietiane.

Common mistake .... Ubon and Udon .... very far apart ....

one helluva long drive no matter how you do it from Ubon .... I'd probably get back to BKK and fly! either str8 into Vientienne or to Udon and then it's about 600 baht for a minivan up ... (per car not person) and about 45 minutes

This place is good in Vientianne - I stayed there before for 600 Baht a night (paid in Thai currency). How long ar you there for? If you have time, I highly recommend taking a 2 hour journey north of Vientianne to Vang Vieng, one of my favourite places in SE Asia.

i am also thinking of heading into Laos for a 3 week holiday in july... anybody know about travelling at this time of year? i am a bit concerned that we might be rained out? (sorry to take this thread on a slight tangent jaylord)

jaylord,

The closest border crossing to Ubon Ratchathani is an hours drive to Chong Mek. Pakse is the closest city inside Laos.

Depending on what you want to do, you could either drive up through Laos from Pakse or take the alternative route up through Thailand and cross at Vientiane.

From my experience in the Pakse area, the roads were good and not as crowded as the Thai roads. It may be different up towards Vientiane. I found the southern part of Laos to be cheap, friendly and safe.

As of 2 days ago the Mekong hadn’t flooded near Chong Mek and there were only the occasional patches of rain. The area was green but still quite dry.

I went to Laos for a day trip with my wife once before. We drove up there from Udon Thani. It took about an hour. We got the visa and relevant requirements right in town. The town on the border is the town of NongKhai. There are some great restaurants in Laos. The ones I found were located in a circle around a non-working water fountain.

Try La Opera in that exact location for the best italian in Vietiane.

What a coincidence! That is exactly where we went to eat. It was great. They had far better Italian food than anything I have had in Thailand.

Try La Opera in that exact location for the best italian in Vietiane.

What a coincidence! That is exactly where we went to eat. It was great. They had far better Italian food than anything I have had in Thailand.

Same owner as Bangkok L'Opera Sukh Soi 31

I second the recommendation for Phonepaseuth Guest House. It is the type of Guest House on the verge of being a hotel.

Very fresh, reasonably priced and the main staff are all very helpful and speak very good English.

From Ubon it is indeed very far by car, so unless you are driving, consider flying in to Laos via Bangkok.