The trip to Bangkok went smoothly. After the Laos international train
(20bht) which just takes you over the boarder to Nong Khai station
where you get on the night train. The face value of my night train
ticket was 688bht for 2nd class upper berth with aircon. I didn't like
the set up quit as much as the night trains in Vietnam because on this
train there were no cabins just bunks with curtains running alongside
the aisle. The bed was fine and the top bunk is better I think cause
you're slightly more secluded. There was a restaurant car which was
cool. It was a social area but the food and beers were WAY overpriced
(120bht for a beer!). The train arrived the Bangkok Central train
station an hour later than the ticket said we would but that was fine
by me. We left Nong Khai at 6:20pm and arrived at about 730am.
Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Vang Vieng
The bus dropped us off at a guest house in the center but there was zero pressure to stay there and we went to look for a place closer the the river. I stayed
at Vieng Vilai Guest House on a street called "B Sengsavang" I think.
It was a pretty good spot in the heart of the action and pretty
social. I had a private room with hot shower and satellite tv for
30,000kip!
Vang Vieng is a ridiculous place. The town is incredibly touristy but
it is set amongst beautiful scenery. The main attraction is "tubing"
on the river but the majority of people don't actually tube (I never
did) they just take a tuk tuk (10,000kip per person) to the river bars
a few kilometers outside of town around 1 in the afternoon. It's a lot
of fun and there are rope swings and slides and tons of free shots.
It's basically like spring break for backpackers. Around 7pm everyone
piles into tuk tuks (10,000kip per person) to go back to town where,
after a shower and some food, the party continues at either OhLaLa Bar
or Q-Bar (more free shots) and Q-bar plays a video of the day from
their river location.
Vang Vieng is still worth going to if your mission isn't just
partying. It's really easy to get away from all the tourist stuff in
just a couple minutes on a bike. I discovered a really nice little
area just over a car bridge on the other side of the river that had a
couple guest houses and still felt like real Laos. Also surrounding
town are a lot of big limestone Kearsts and there are a lot of caves
to explore.
Leaving Vang Vieng I decided to just go straight through to Bangkok
cause I had a flight to catch from Bangkok to Sri Lanka. In Vang Vieng
I arranged to go all the way which was long but pretty easy. I found a
travel agent where I could buy a VIP bus to Vientiane for 50,000kip
and I bought my train ticket from them (upper berth, aircon for
950baht) the 950 baht included transfer from Vientiane center to the
Laos international train, that ticket and the train ticket to Bangkok.
The actual cost of the two train tickets was just over 700bht so you
could probably do it cheaper yourself but it would be more hassle and
there's no way to buy train tickets ahead of time online so you either
have to go to the train station or buy through the agent.
at Vieng Vilai Guest House on a street called "B Sengsavang" I think.
It was a pretty good spot in the heart of the action and pretty
social. I had a private room with hot shower and satellite tv for
30,000kip!
Vang Vieng is a ridiculous place. The town is incredibly touristy but
it is set amongst beautiful scenery. The main attraction is "tubing"
on the river but the majority of people don't actually tube (I never
did) they just take a tuk tuk (10,000kip per person) to the river bars
a few kilometers outside of town around 1 in the afternoon. It's a lot
of fun and there are rope swings and slides and tons of free shots.
It's basically like spring break for backpackers. Around 7pm everyone
piles into tuk tuks (10,000kip per person) to go back to town where,
after a shower and some food, the party continues at either OhLaLa Bar
or Q-Bar (more free shots) and Q-bar plays a video of the day from
their river location.
Vang Vieng is still worth going to if your mission isn't just
partying. It's really easy to get away from all the tourist stuff in
just a couple minutes on a bike. I discovered a really nice little
area just over a car bridge on the other side of the river that had a
couple guest houses and still felt like real Laos. Also surrounding
town are a lot of big limestone Kearsts and there are a lot of caves
to explore.
Leaving Vang Vieng I decided to just go straight through to Bangkok
cause I had a flight to catch from Bangkok to Sri Lanka. In Vang Vieng
I arranged to go all the way which was long but pretty easy. I found a
travel agent where I could buy a VIP bus to Vientiane for 50,000kip
and I bought my train ticket from them (upper berth, aircon for
950baht) the 950 baht included transfer from Vientiane center to the
Laos international train, that ticket and the train ticket to Bangkok.
The actual cost of the two train tickets was just over 700bht so you
could probably do it cheaper yourself but it would be more hassle and
there's no way to buy train tickets ahead of time online so you either
have to go to the train station or buy through the agent.
Luong Prabang
Arrived Luong Prabang around 3pm and got dropped off at the bus
station. From there you have to take a tuk tuk to the center for
10,000kip. Walked around looking for a room and it was hard to find
cheap rooms. There are a lot in the 100,000kip range. Finally found a
room at Chitlatda Guest House (Sisouphanh Rd tel: 071-212227) for
60,000kip with 2 beds, shared bathroom (squat toilet, hotshower), free
wifi. Also heard about a hostel called Spicy Lao but don't know
anything about it.
Luong Prabang is a pretty nice town at the convergence of the Mekong
river and another river. Lots of old buildings from the French era.
The is a food market in an ally off the night market where you can get
a plate of food from one of the many buffets for 10,000kip. Utopia is
a real cool bar on the banks of the river with a sand volley ball
court.
Leaving Luong Prabang I booked a bus to Vang Vieng for 115,000 from
the guesthouse. It was suppose to be a minivan but ended up being a
small bus but it was all good cause the bus could seat about 25 people
but there were only 6 of us. But we stopped to pick random people up
on the way so it wasnt much different than the public bus which i bet
you could probably get for half the price at the bus station. We left
around 9 and arrived at 330, way longer than I expected.
station. From there you have to take a tuk tuk to the center for
10,000kip. Walked around looking for a room and it was hard to find
cheap rooms. There are a lot in the 100,000kip range. Finally found a
room at Chitlatda Guest House (Sisouphanh Rd tel: 071-212227) for
60,000kip with 2 beds, shared bathroom (squat toilet, hotshower), free
wifi. Also heard about a hostel called Spicy Lao but don't know
anything about it.
Luong Prabang is a pretty nice town at the convergence of the Mekong
river and another river. Lots of old buildings from the French era.
The is a food market in an ally off the night market where you can get
a plate of food from one of the many buffets for 10,000kip. Utopia is
a real cool bar on the banks of the river with a sand volley ball
court.
Leaving Luong Prabang I booked a bus to Vang Vieng for 115,000 from
the guesthouse. It was suppose to be a minivan but ended up being a
small bus but it was all good cause the bus could seat about 25 people
but there were only 6 of us. But we stopped to pick random people up
on the way so it wasnt much different than the public bus which i bet
you could probably get for half the price at the bus station. We left
around 9 and arrived at 330, way longer than I expected.
Muong Khiaw to Luong Prabang
Muong Khiaw has similar scenery to Muong Ngoi Neua and is very
beautiful and pretty rustic. There were some new bungalows on the
banks of the river and I think it would be worth hanging around if you
have time. There are boats continuing south to Luong Prebang for
100,000kip if there are 10 or more people. There is a minibus waiting
at the boat dock to take people to the bus station a kilometer or two
away for 5000kip. From there you catch the public bus to Luong Prebang
at 11:30 for 40,000kip. I think the bus is the way to go. The drive is
really nice with beautiful scenery and very rural villages and the
road is paved with not much traffic. You see the same scenery as the
boat, the bus is half the price, takes half the time and is more
comfortable. Plus you kinda see more cause you actually go through
the villages. Boat travel is nice but I had already done it twice so
it was nice to drive.
beautiful and pretty rustic. There were some new bungalows on the
banks of the river and I think it would be worth hanging around if you
have time. There are boats continuing south to Luong Prebang for
100,000kip if there are 10 or more people. There is a minibus waiting
at the boat dock to take people to the bus station a kilometer or two
away for 5000kip. From there you catch the public bus to Luong Prebang
at 11:30 for 40,000kip. I think the bus is the way to go. The drive is
really nice with beautiful scenery and very rural villages and the
road is paved with not much traffic. You see the same scenery as the
boat, the bus is half the price, takes half the time and is more
comfortable. Plus you kinda see more cause you actually go through
the villages. Boat travel is nice but I had already done it twice so
it was nice to drive.
Muong Ngoi Neua
We arrived in Muong Ngoi Neua around 1245. There are tons of guest
houses on offer 50,000, 40,000, 30,000kip. I stayed at Phetdavanh
Guest House for 30,000kip for a small room with 2 beds and shared
bathroom. It's a decent place with a social atmosphere but I think you
can do better for 30,000. Muong Ngoi Neua is a very cool little
village that is only accessible by boat. Theres no way to get money
and theres no internet. It's very laid back with friendly locals.
There are two caves, I did one to the north of town (10,000kip) which
was very cool and quite big and there is also a look out up above it
with good views of the river and village. Leaving for Muong Khiaw to
the south the boats leave around 930 and cost 20,000kip and take 1
hour.
houses on offer 50,000, 40,000, 30,000kip. I stayed at Phetdavanh
Guest House for 30,000kip for a small room with 2 beds and shared
bathroom. It's a decent place with a social atmosphere but I think you
can do better for 30,000. Muong Ngoi Neua is a very cool little
village that is only accessible by boat. Theres no way to get money
and theres no internet. It's very laid back with friendly locals.
There are two caves, I did one to the north of town (10,000kip) which
was very cool and quite big and there is also a look out up above it
with good views of the river and village. Leaving for Muong Khiaw to
the south the boats leave around 930 and cost 20,000kip and take 1
hour.
Muong Khua
Entering Laos from Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam the drive is very nice. The
bus is crap but the scenery is spectacular. The road winds through
very mountainous terrain. they are rebuilding the road and when that's
done it should be really nice. The bus drops off on the other side of
the river from Muong Khua and you cross by boat for 2000kip. There are
plenty of guesthouses. Me and a Danish guy stayed in one overlooking
the river in a room with 2 beds and private bathroom with hot water,
squat toilet for 50,000kip. They also had single rooms with shared
bathroom for 25000kip. There are two places to exchange money and they
both had very fair usd to Kip rates. There are no ATMs around though
and none nearby so bring enough cash for a few days. There is also no
Internet anywhere in town (they just got hooked up to the main power
grid a couple years ago). Leaving I took a slow boat to Muang Noig Nua
south down the river (4 hours, leaves between 9am and 9:30am). It is
suppose to cost 100,000kip but because we only had 7 people making the
trip it was 160,000kip. It's a very nice boat ride in a long boat
through the jungle but you'll be sitting on a wood plank so having
some sort of cushioning is advisable.
bus is crap but the scenery is spectacular. The road winds through
very mountainous terrain. they are rebuilding the road and when that's
done it should be really nice. The bus drops off on the other side of
the river from Muong Khua and you cross by boat for 2000kip. There are
plenty of guesthouses. Me and a Danish guy stayed in one overlooking
the river in a room with 2 beds and private bathroom with hot water,
squat toilet for 50,000kip. They also had single rooms with shared
bathroom for 25000kip. There are two places to exchange money and they
both had very fair usd to Kip rates. There are no ATMs around though
and none nearby so bring enough cash for a few days. There is also no
Internet anywhere in town (they just got hooked up to the main power
grid a couple years ago). Leaving I took a slow boat to Muang Noig Nua
south down the river (4 hours, leaves between 9am and 9:30am). It is
suppose to cost 100,000kip but because we only had 7 people making the
trip it was 160,000kip. It's a very nice boat ride in a long boat
through the jungle but you'll be sitting on a wood plank so having
some sort of cushioning is advisable.
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