Laos

Getting to Laos may sounds more complicated than it is because there are no direct cheap flights from India to Laos. To save money, you could fly in and out of Bangkok. Laos has a land border with Thailand, which several travelers cross on a daily basis, however, Indians do not get a visa on arrival for Thailand if you do not have a flight ticket for your onward journey and the VOA issued is valid for a single entry. However, all the complications can be put to rest if you get a prearranged multi entry Thai visa that covers the length of your stay in Laos so that you can leave Thailand and return via the land border, saving you lots of money. The visa for Laos is available on arrival for Indians. All you need to know about Visas for Laos is here. You could fly into Vientiane from Bangkok. Most flights offer packages which means you get flown to the Thai border town of Udon Thani from where you board a bus or car that brings you into Vientiane. There are several flights everyday and is a good options in terms of saving you money and time. You could also take a train or bus from Bangkok. The bus takes around 14 hours and costs about THB 700 from Khao San Road. The train takes about 1000 THB. If you want to add adventure to your trip you could head to the North Thailand and take a boat out to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai. The boat could take multiple days and takes you through Laos country side on the mighty Mekong. This way you get to Luang Prabang first and can make your way down to exit out of Vientiane to Bangkok.

Luang Prabang was great but journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng was boring and everything in South East Asia was turning about to be lukewarm! Then God ventured in. At Vang Vieng while all the passengers on the tourist mini-bus got on the tuk-tuk at “whatever you quote” price of the tuk-tuk driver, Valerie and Andrew were the only ones who with a copy of “South East on a Shoestring” decided to walk it to the town. “Well, we don’t know where we want to go so we can’t get on the tuk-tuk”, Andrew said sounding hesitant. The truth was nobody who was on the tuk-tuk knew where they wanted to go and it was past 10 in the night. “Well, if they can walk it, so can we,” thought the budget traveler in us and we got off the tuk-tuk. Just as we got off, we saw the girl with the aviators (Valerie) and the unusually tall and awkward guy (Andrew) returning to the tuk-tuk. We thought they were returning to take us with them. That would be very friendly. (In hindsight, we think they returned because they realized to walk alone in an unknown town at night when you don’t know where you want to go was a stupid idea and that is why no one else was doing it so they decided to take the tuk-tuk. But the fact that we were off the tuk-tuk following their lead gave them some strength.) Our first question to them was, “Do you know where we need to go?” and their response “errrm…no.” Was that the life changing moment of our life or what. Neither of us knew where we were headed (but we got someplace beautiful alright.) What followed later was a tuk-tuk ride to the town at …

If Laos is the Hammock Republic, then Si Phan Don is its capital. 4000 islands consists of many big and small islands the major ones amongst these are Don Khong, Don Khone and the Don Det. Here is all that you need to know about Si Phan Don before you get to Don Det or Don Khone. Getting there: Your hotel in Vientiane can book you a direct package trip to Si Phan Don which will cover bus changes, transfer and the last mile boat ride. An overnight bus from Vientiane will take you to Pakse. From Pakse you will switch buses to get to boat harbor from where a boat will take you to the island you wish to go to – Don Khone or Don Det. Accommodation: There are several box type bungalows as in tiny huts on the river, mostly with shared bathroom and a restaurant run by the guest house owner in vicinity. These places although cheap are mostly run down and dirty. To find the cleanest one would be bit of a struggle. Since they are plentiful with nothing special to mark them out, there is not much information about them online either. Getting around: The island roads are unpaved, mud roads. With things far apart, cycling or sometimes a boat ride is the best way to go around and go sight seeing. Food: The food in Si Phan Don islands is plain simple. Expect the usual Lao laap, fried rice and noodle soup. There are no Western options on the menu. But the preparation and taste is a notch better than . There is just no point in writing a ton of places you could eat in here because the choice in not varied. You get similar food at similar looking places and similarly charged …

Getting to Laos may sounds more complicated than it is because there are no direct cheap flights from India to Laos. To save money, you could fly in and out of Bangkok. Laos has a land border with Thailand, which several travelers cross on a daily basis, however, Indians do not get a visa on arrival for Thailand if you do not have a flight ticket for your onward journey and the VOA issued is valid for a single entry. However, all the complications can be put to rest if you get a prearranged multi entry Thai visa that covers the length of your stay in Laos so that you can leave Thailand and return via the land border, saving you lots of money. The visa for Laos is available on arrival for Indians. All you need to know about Visas for Laos is here. You could fly into Vientiane from Bangkok. Most flights offer packages which means you get flown to the Thai border town of Udon Thani from where you board a bus or car that brings you into Vientiane. There are several flights everyday and is a good options in terms of saving you money and time. You could also take a train or bus from Bangkok. The bus takes around 14 hours and costs about THB 700 from Khao San Road. The train takes about 1000 THB. If you want to add adventure to your trip you could head to the North Thailand and take a boat out to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai. The boat could take multiple days and takes you through Laos country side on the mighty Mekong. This way you get to Luang Prabang first and can make your way down to exit out of Vientiane to Bangkok.

Your travel trail in Laos will be determined by where you enter from and how many days you have. Here are a couple of itineraries we suggest for Laos. There are no must-sees in Laos just hotspots for relaxation and quiet days in hammocks. But if you must must ask, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang are our must-go destinations in Laos. Vientiane to Luang Prabang in 5-7 days: Fly into Vientiane from Bangkok, spend a day exploring the Phat Luang and Buddha Park. Head to Vang Vieng which is about 4 hours and tube down the Nam khok river or caving. From Vang Vieng, head to Luang Prabang which is another 6 hours away to soak in the colonial past of Laos. Luang Prabang to 4000 thousand island in 10-14 days: Most straightforward itineraries around Laos is to enter via Luang Prabang. Spend a couple of days lounging in its French style cafes and bakeries before heading to Vang Vieng for a couple of days. Then, you could head to Vientiane for a night or two. If you have another week at hand you could move to 4000 islands. To return you would need to get back to Pakse for a flight to Vientiane. The bus would be long and arduous. It may just be better to proceed to Phnom Penh or Siem Reap to fly back to Bangkok.

Ladies and gentleman, as you know we are going around the world sampling some of the the worst bus rides to bring you the best of the worst ones. The ride from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam to Luang Prabang, is one such fine rides that deserve a mention on our blog. This ride is the winner of our quest to find the most the torturous and traumatic experience on a night bus. We suggest discretion in reading this post, for you will often shudder to think that it could be you on the bus. This is not just the finest but definitely also the longest among all bus rides brought to us from hell so far. If you have been suicidal for a while and don’t know what to do with your life, this is just the thing for you to do. Uncertain and full of surprises, as life itself, you will keep guessing when you are leaving and where you are being taken to. Often you will find yourself sitting and waiting, watching the hours pass and wondering why both, your life and bus, are not moving forward and where the hell on Earth are you. But then you realize it is two in the night and in the epic Scarlett O’hara way you will tell yourself, I will worry about it tomorrow for tomorrow is another day. And then you will toss around in the ultra (un)comfortable seats purposely kept short to squeeze your toes (making you want to chop off your limbs) and narrow to allow more human to human contact by bringing you closer to the fellow passenger you will be practically lying down with the whole journey. As if this is not enough, you will be seated (placed) next to the aisle which will …

"There is nothing to do in Vientiane" - Really! Oh, that's exactly what I want to do...Here is our guide on how to do nothing in Vientiane!

A two hour ride upstream on the Mekong will bring you at the foot of Pak Ou cave set in limestone cliff, twenty five kilometers away from Luang Prabang. The ride to and fro will cost you around 100,000 kip (roughly $9/INR 900) and may keep you wondering if it is a bit too much you paid. But as soon as you take a seat the long wooden boats, your doubts will be put to rest. Over the next two hours, the boat driver will navigate the rapids on the giant Mekong, gently moving in the direction of the caves. You will pass by serene views of green countryside, b and petrol bunker on the way and then as the two hours will pass by you will see a white hollow in the face of a giant cliff approach. You have arrived, your boat driver will say and you already know it was worth the time and the money. The quiet ride on the Mekong had already put you in the ideal state of calm necessary before visit to a religious site that has been used for meditation as well. As you climb the flight of stairs you pay an entry fees of 20,ooo kip ( roughly $3/INR 180) and make your way to the lower level of caves. Over four thousand Buddhas have been placed in this cave over a period of hundred years. With each Buddha representing the faith of an individual, you feel a sense of spirituality pervading the cave. After a few moments you make you way up to the upper level caves, where a giant statue of Lao Buddha meets you on the entrance. You go inside and look up your flashlight because the upper cave is absolutely dark. You imagine the cave lit up …

Kuang si are the spectacular waterfalls about 30 kilometers from Luang Prabang. Jump into a tuk tuk for a shared ride at 35,000 kip or sign up for a minivan at 40,000 kip that your hotel can arrange for you or you could find one waiting along the Sisavangvong road. The falls are multi-tiered and their turquoise blue or sometimes emerald green pools are a sight to both behold and jump in. We decided to trek all the way up to the top of the falls in the true spirit of exploration. And we were rewarded with the breathtaking top view of the falls and multiple tiny lakes. The climb although not too long is not so straightforward either. It is both adventurous and a little daunting because many a times you will be guessing if you are heading the right way. We were often left guessing wondering if we were the only ones heading up but a lot of people make the effort to climb up the top. So if you find the company of others and the waterfall symphony missing for too long, you know you are going the wrong way. The hike up is slippery, through wild woods, underneath the green canopy and definitely not for everybody. To navigate your way across the water pool at the top stepping over the moss covered rocks to get to the other side needs caution. If you slip, there is nothing to hold you back except for a railing of bamboo. But to put your feet on the black stones smothered by the time and water gushing down brings a feeling of peace to your nerves as you are panicking with both thrill and horror. To walk down is more challenging. But each step is a wonderful surprise. We stepped down a …