Traveling to Laos was one of my pending trips since I was very small. I guess you, you came to this Laos Guide because you are going to visit the country soon.
Well, you came to the right place, here you will find an answer to all the doubts that arise right now about the country of the million elephants. Updated july 2018:
How to organize a route through Laos for free? How to obtain a visa in Laos? Where to sleep? or how to move around the country easily without any problems arising.
I had these questions until very recently and that is why I compiled this practical information about Laos during the 15 days that we were touring the north of the country on our own. We start?
Laos is an incredible country, which invited us to travel slowly, without hurry. With beautiful places like the Kuang Si waterfalls and with a sad history and little known by the majority since, even being a neutral country, it was the most bombed country in the world during the Vietnam War.
Before starting to travel around Laos my questions were:
What is the cheapest way to travel to Laos?
How to get to Laos by land from Thailand.
What to see in Laos? Were they the essential places shouldn't be missed?
How to manage the visa to Laos? or how long I could be in the country.
Useful guide to travel to Laos
What is the best way to get to Laos?
How to travel to Laos by land from Thailand?
We enter the country by land from Thailand. We crossed the bridge of friendship that unites Chiang Khong (Thailand) with Hat Xai, Bokeo (Laos)
We leave the country by the bridge of friendship that links Vientiane with Nong Khai in Thailand - The border is open from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., every day of the week.
Other border crossings not so popular:
Chong Mek (Thailand) - Viangtao (Laos)
Mukdahan - Savannakhet
Nakhon Phanom - Thakhet
Huai Kon - Muang Ngeun
What airport should I fly to to travel to Laos?
The main airports are Luang Prabang and Vientiane. We checked prices of flights with Skyscanner to these airports and they were quite expensive.
A much cheaper option if you travel from Thailand is to fly from Bangkok to Nong Khai and cross overland to Vientiane. (I'll explain how to do it below)
Practical advice for traveling to Laos: Health and safety, visa, best time to travel and basic vocabulary
Is it safe to travel to Laos?
Safety in Laos: Laos seemed like a pretty safe country. With kind people. Perhaps the most you can suffer is some small "scam" raising prices a little in tourist areas but not much more than that. We travel as a couple, but we meet many travelers alone, both girls and boys.
Do I need a visa to travel to Laos?
Visa to enter to Laos: The Laos visa does not have to be paid or taken out in advance. The entire process is done "On Arrival". Spaniards have to pay 35 $ / 35 € or 1400 baht and we can be in the country for a total of 30 days.
What is the best time to travel to Laos?
The best time to travel to Laos: We traveled between January and February, we had cold during the night to the north and heat during the day. It did not rain during the 15 days.
Despite this I did an investigation, on this topic reading other blogs. All recommended traveling to Laos between November and February. The reason for this was that, although there is some rain in the country, the rivers and waterfalls are loaded with water, and it is not too hot.
The rainy season in Laos is between May and October. April is the month in which the heat is going to pass, but it is the month in which the New Year is celebrated in Laos.
Laos Guide: Where to sleep / Accommodation?
Guest Houses: Before coming to Laos I imagined that the accommodations were going to be really bad and I had even read that something more expensive.
Accommodations chosen in Laos. You can see photos and updated prices by clicking on the name. We always stay in a private double room with private bathroom.
Hat Xai (Bokeo): ThaveesinHotel
Luang Prabang: Phongphilack Guesthouse paid 100 thousand kips a night (€ 11/12 $)
Vang Vieng: Sisavang Guest House
Vientiane: Haysoke Guesthouse
Travel to Laos: Currency, ATMs (ATM) and budget
Some interesting information:
The currency of the country is the Laotian Kip
The equivalent in Euros is approximately one euro 10 thousand kips
All tourist areas of Laos are full of money exchange and ATM (ATM)
ATMs in Laos, dispense Kips (not dollars as they did in the past) and charge a commission
ATMs charge a commission of 20000 kips
Laos Guide: Transportation
Moving in Laos is an adventure. Most of the roads are in poor condition so it takes some time to get from one place to another.
Some examples of long trips prices (April 2016)
Hat Xai-Vientiane Bus:
Every day at 12 noon and at 4:00 p.m. Journey takes 12/13 hours.
Season price: 120 thousand Kipts at 16:00 and 130 thousand kipt at 12:00. If you are going to do it on your own, you have to catch a tuk tuk from the town to the station, it is 5 km away and it will charge you about 25 thousand kipts, even so it is cheaper than buying it in an agency.
Agency price: 160 thousand and transportation to the station is included.
Hat Xai-Vientiane slow boat: Option + popular. Agency price: 240000 kipt (+/- 25 € / 28 $) Jetty price 220000 Kipt (+/- 23 € / 25 $) Salén every morning at 11 o'clock in the morning, they are not punctual.
Luang Prabang -Vang Vieng (Mini bus) 6 hours drive. Price: 125 thousand Kips per person. (€ 13.8 / $ 15.40)
Vang-Vieng - Vientiane: Mini bus for 40 thousand kips
Lean more about Luang Prabang tours and travel
Vientian- Bangkok (Local + cheap form) Bus from Vientiane to Laos Border 6000 kip + Bus to cross friendship bridge linking Laos and Thailand 4000 kips
Guide to food and drinking in Laos
Do not leave without trying the Laap
Put up food at the stalls of everything you get on the plate for € 1 / € 1.5 in Luang Prabang
The baggies of Luang Prabang are the best we ate in the country, a good option for breakfast every morning.
What are the essential places to see in Laos? Our 15-day route through Laos (Very slow)
Day 1 Hat Xai (Crossing the border Thailand) We saw the sunset on the bank of the Mekong. We had dinner at
Day 2 We walked to the pier where the boats take to Luang Prabang (It takes two days and costs 220,000 kips) Finally we took a night bus to Luang Prabang.
Day 3-6 Luang Prabang.
Day 7 We booked mini van to leave for Vang Vieng in the afternoon. Walk through the city we cross one of the Bamboo bridges to visit a small town. We arrived at Vang Vieng at night.
Day 8-11 Vang Vieng
Day 12-14 Vientiane (Capital of Laos)
Day 15 We spend the morning in Vientiane in the afternoon we cross the land border between Vientiane and Thailand.
Ideal route through Laos if you have 15 days and want to see everything
Day 1 Arrival to Hat Xai and departure to Luang Nathang (buses leave at 12 in the morning)
Day 2 and 3 Luang Nathang
Day 4 and 5 Luang Prabang and Wat Si Falls and Caves (Luang Prabang)
Day 6 Departure in the morning in Mini van to Vang Vieng (Journey takes 5 hours)
Day 7 Rent a kayak to make the descent of the river or optional tubbing
Day 8 Blue Lagoon and surrounding caves (Vang Vieng)
Day 9 Early morning departure to Vientiane (3 hours drive) Vientiane's main monuments.
Day 10 Visit the COPE Museum in Vientiane, take a night bus to Kong Lor.
Day 11 Visit the cave of Kong Lor with 7.5 km depth. Night out to 4000 islands
Day 12 -15 Relax in 4000 islands.
What to see in Laos: 3 main places we visited
LUANG PRABANG
We arrived at Luang Prabang from Hat Xai by Bus. The city is beautiful, with its colonial houses heritage of the French occupation.
A summary of Luang Prabang for me would be:
"The best baguettes in all of Laos are in Luang Prabang"
If you only have one day, use it to visit the Khouansi waterfall
Accommodation
It cost us more than normal to find cheap accommodation and be free. We finally found a great room at Phongphilack Guesthouse There we would spend 4 nights.
Necessary days and idea of "route"
If you do not have a lot of time, two days will be more than enough.
You can dedicate the first day to know the city (it's rather small)
I recommend you get up early on the second day to see the offering of souls. Afterwards you can visit the waterfall Kuang Si Waterfall and the surrounding caves.
Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng surprised me very much. I imagined a party place, full of drunk people. It is enough to go out a little from the center to find dreamy landscapes and rural villages, where children are thrilled with the simple fact of telling you Hello.
How to move in Vang Vieng?
In Vang Vieng we rented a motorcycle per day, if instead of staying for the full day you return it at 7 in the evening, which is already night, they charge only 40 thousand (4.4 € / 5.5 $) If you the 24 hours are charged 70 thousand.
What to see / do?
Rent a bike or a motorcycle and go out and discover the surroundings. If you rent the bike half a day costs 40000 kips if you rent the full day 70000 kips. (Half a day is until five o'clock and at that time it is when it gets dark, so we rented it half a day every day).
Where you rent the bike or the bike will give you a handmade map with the nearby caves, waterfalls and Blue Lagoon.
Go for a swim at Blue Lagoon. (7 km) (Entrance 10000 kips)
Discover the surrounding caves
Go down the river Song in Kayak
Tubbing: Lower the river in giant floats
Where to sleep in Vang Vieng? accommodation
Sisavang Guest House. 80,000 Kips (€ 8.8 / $ 10) Private room with private bathroom, which even had TV. I offered free coffee and tea every morning, although I really had it all day.
What to do in Vang Vieng in two days?
Two days are enough to know Vang Vieng and surroundings.
Day 1. Motorbike rental and go to Blue Lagoon (7km) and the surrounding caves (Between 7 and 10 km)
Day 2. A quiet option could be to rent a kayak to go down the river or tubbing
Tips for traveling to Vientiane
I could describe the capital of Laos telling you that it has another rhythm. If you have traveled previously in Asia you will be surprised how quiet the city is. If you arrive on a Sunday like us, prepare to find more than one desert street.
If you have a few days at least I recommend that you stop in Vientiane to meet the center COPE a rehabilitation center where they help people who have suffered the misfortunes of the millions of bombs that are still unexploited in the country. you can also book laos tour packages and enjoy the pre-arrangmenets service.
Useful tips
Vientiane is the capital of the country.
The border with Thailand is only 18 km from Vientiane
The airport is 5 km from the city.
What to see and do in Vientiane?
All the essentials can be visited on foot. Get a free map of your accommodation and go out and discover the city by walking.
The most interesting:
COPE Rehabilitation Center. A place to learn a little more about the sad history that this country has suffered. And that still suffers with the millions of bombs that still remain untapped. This center helps people who have lost parts of their body because of these pumps, making orthopedic limbs. Admission is free
"Essential" monuments to visit in Vientiane:
Pha That Luang, a golden pagoda that is the symbol of the country, is 2 kilometers from the Arc de Triomf, we walked.
Patuxay the "Arc de Triomf", in the heart of the city, go see it and walk through the park where it is free. If you want to upload they charge an entry
Curious places:
Buda Park: I really liked the visit to this park. It is located on the outskirts of the city. You can go by free by local bus number 14. It is the same bus that goes to the border of Laos and Thailand. The bus costs 6000 kips (€ 0.60 / $ 0.80). The entrance to the park costs 5000 kips (0.50 € / 0.65 $) Prices April 2018.
How to get around the city:
We walked the city.
To go to Buda Park we went by local bus. Bus number 14. It is taken at the Morning Market bus station (it is in the center next to the new shopping center)
We leave the country to Thailand from Vientiane. We took the local bus number 14 to the Laos border for 6000 kips, once we crossed the border there is a bus waiting for us that costs 10000 kips and leaves at the same immigration gate in Thailand. In total we spend 16 thousand approximately € 1.6 to get from Vientiane to the first town in Thailand.
What to do in Vientiane in two days?
Two days are enough to know Vientiane and surroundings.
Day 1. Visit the UFO museum in the morning. The midday and the afternoon you can dedicate to the city, the "essential" monuments are relatively close. We went walking.
Day 2. Take the local bus number 14 to go to Buda Park, the park is visited in just over an hour. That same day you can take a night bus to continue the route to the south.