From Thailand to Laos - A short video of my trip to Vientiane.

I drive to the border and cross over to Laos in this short video. More information on Laos will be up on http://www.abettertrip.com ! Laos is an interesting place and a day trip was a bit too short to do real exploring. Actually by the time we cleared immigration, we lost a good portion of the day. Our hired-at-the-border tour guide/van driver only managed to take us to 3 of the 5 main stops they usually do. Next time I'll stay at least one or two nights and try to explore. I like to get some time and explore off the beaten path a little (but not off established trails! I'm no fan of land mine explosions!).

Hotels in Vientienne: http://www.agoda.com/asia/laos/vientiane.html?cid=1424719

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Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Thailand
• Nong Khai
• Laos
• Friendship Bridge
• land crossing
• travel
• vacation
• trip
• abettertrip

[Vindaturk]

My best friend is Laos. I want to help fund a trip for him to visit. How much money do you think he would need to have saved up for 1 week? Do you recommend any towns over others?

[tinfamily]

@Vindaturk Hi & Merry Christmas :) I would say if he has any relatives there, to plan around that. If he doesn't, or doesn't want to stay in the village etc.. Then I like Vientiane and would like to return there to see more of it some time. (note: I added a link to hotels in the video notes) Hotels run about 30 - 100 (and up) for a decent hotel there. I'd also personally love to see Luang Prabang. Vientiane for the culture and the temples, shops, and food, then on to Luang Prabang for (cont.)

[tinfamily]

(continued) a slower paced experience. In Luang Prabang, see temples, waterfalls, elephant trek if he wants, and local art and crafts. If he's near the border @ Vientiane and decides he wants to hop the border to see Nong Khai in Thailand it's easy to do. Hotels in Luang Prabang are a bit more expensive. Food, in general is fairly cheap, esp. if you eat at shops geared towards locals. Depending on how much he's going to spend on elephant treks etc.. figure hotel + $100 is a healthy median.

[tinfamily]

(continued) Don't forget + border fees if not flying directly in (also bring your own passport sized photos for immigration). As for upper end it's always pretty easy to spend more. I've had H+$20 days and H+$400 days (throw in some elephant trekking, buy a few amulets, hire a tour van and have a few drinks somewhere and it can add up fast). If he's the type to walk around and just eat, then $100 will be more than he needs, if he likes to go to many paid activities bring a little more :)

[unirug]

Thailand - is great, it'd be interesting to see where you went and what you did!

also what other countries you have visited. I highly recomend Vietnam!

thats my new pond^_^

[tinfamily]

I'd love to go back to Vietnam again. We were in HCM City a while back and did the basic tours out of there. Amazing how cheap it is to book once you're in the city. We were on the same tour with people who paid their agents many times more (compare 5usd to 45usd for the same tour). I'd like to go back again and spend more time there. I'd like to go to Laos and spend a few nights and explore more than I did and to Cambodia as well. (well that and I have a long list of everywhere else too!)

[unirug]

as for Vietnam:) yes I love it - I want to explore more asian countries. I ve heard about the open tour! from 1 end of the country to the next then grab a cheap flight back to HCM! yesme and my brother termed the"free a bird" which were later recaptured!that was in Thailand

[unirug]

I always take a few spare extra passport pictures!due to you never know when they may come in handy , it can save time!

all shops here mostly shut at 5pm.

[deathwing98]

I heard from sources that Laos was liberated from the French by the Japanese in 1941.

[tinfamily]

Yes! I didn't notice it until you mentioned it. I googled around a bit and the only similar sign I could find says something about Japan's support of Laos.

I have no idea, but perhaps it has something to do with the $15 million USD Japan gave Laos for forest preservation or this:the 1.5 billion yen of Official Development Assistance loan (ODA) to the Government of Laos with the annual low-interest rate of 0.01 per cent and 40 years of repayment period, including a ten-year grace period.