Chaing Mai - through Laos - Hanoi

MazStar

Has anyone taken this route? What kind of transport did you take? And what towns/cities did you stop at in Laos. Any must-sees in Laos? We will only have 5-7 days to make this trip. Is that enough time?

Thanks
Maz

Loco

must see: vang vieng, luang prabang.

just chillout at the cafes in vang vieng its a sh1thole but great fun if you are partial to a bit of smoking

luang prabang dont miss the waterfalls, and if u can find a crazy drug dealer guide you will enjoy it even better!
make sure u swim and jump off the trees by the waterfall!

we did laos in 7 days. get the speed boat down the mekong. costs around $20

if you miss the bus get a pickup from the airstrip at vang vieng, theyre dirt cheap and fast(so dangerous it wasnt funny)

concentrate ur time in vang vieng/luang prabang. unless u LOVE temples, vientenne is boring(cheap accomodation hard to find too) also everything closes at 12. that doesnt stop the whores and tuk tuk opium dealers roaming the streets!

PunyHuman

Hello again MazStar. My route seems to have been very similar to the one you're taking, except in reverse. Feel free to PM me if you need any specific information.

Bussed it from Ha Noi to Vientiane. About twenty of us were abandoned at the remote border by the unscrupulous bus company and the journey ended up taking thirty sweaty hours. Moral = make sure you check your tickets, hang on to them, and don't let the buses or drivers out of your sight at the border (where you are supposed to walk for 1km through no-mans land between Lao and Vietnamese immigration).

As for Vientiane, it's a matter of opinion, but I can't believe that anyone could find a south-east Asian capital city boring. Sure, it's laid-back, but then so are most cities in the region, partly due to the French influence. It's a pleasant place with great food, and the wats, monuments and museums are wonderful. Also, we found cheap accomodation no problem despite arriving there at 2am.

The bus from Luang Prabang to Vientiane is pretty spectacular. As loco said, there's not much doing in Vang Vieng, but the sunsets over the karst mountains and the clouds of bats make it worth an overnight. You gotta try the shakes in the Mulberry cafe there as well.

Luang Prabang is a really relaxed place to spend a few days sitting by the Mekong sipping delicious Beer Lao and checking out the incredible wats. Nice bars, shops and restaurants.

We flew from LP to Chiang Mai with Thai Air. Cost about €80 as I recall. You might consider this if you only have a week to get from CM -> HN. A friend took the two-day Mekong cruise from CM -> LP and said it was good but not great - I was also talking to some folks who said the speedboat was incredibly loud, unsafe and uncomfortable.

In my opinion you are not leaving yourself enough time. We made the trip in about ten days and found it to be not really long enough. You don't want to be rushing these things if you can avoid it.

I am burning with envy. Have fun.

Insert name____

We bussed it from Chang Mai to CHang Cong (i think thats what its called. I keep mixing up all the place names!) We thought it was gonna be a short trip but it took about 4 hours in a tiny sweaty bus. Then got the slooooooow boat. Stopped in Pakbeng over night where the whole village surrounds you and tries to get you to stay in their place. Our guesthouse was cool though, the family were lovely. There is absolutely nothing to do there but chill and get some rest for the slow boat the next day. (Some advice, bring a cushion!!! The seats are wooden planks so your ass will get very very sore!)
The slow boat took us from Pakbeng to Luang Prabang the next day. I loved this place. So much to do and see but its so relaxed.
We then got the bus from there down to Vientienne. We werent too impressed with this place to be honest, but that was probably due to the horrible first impression our guesthouse gave us. It was the worst place we ever stayed, and it was dearer than many other places which were 10 times as nice (It was still only 5 dollars each, but believe me, our guesthous in luang prabang was 1.50 each a night and it was fab!! The best place ever! The family keep in touch with ALL there guests after they leave which is cool)
Left Vientianne the next day and got the bus up to Hanoi, the best place we went to by far.
Cant remember the bus prices etc but they weren't too dear.

MazStar

Thanks a million for your replies guys. Great information.

serotonin_sam

Where can I book a flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi?
Is there any (price) advantage in pre-booking - as it would probably suit better to leave until the last moment. Never know where it might be necessary to spend more time/divert from itenarary.