Wanda1

My husband has planned this itinerary, does it make sense?
We will be traveling to Laos from Thailand. We still need to get the visas in Laos. He feels we need to fly from Bangkok to Vientiane get Laos visa spend 1 night in Vientiane then fly to Pakse to catch the Vat Phou cruise http://www.discoveryindochina.com/la...e/vatphou.html then fly to Luang Prabang for only 2 nights as he needs to leave. This doesn't make sense to me. Our issue is that this cruise departs on Tuesday & Saturdays only. He arrives Thursday, May 10 in Bangkok then he'd like to take cruise the following Tuesday then leave Bangkok that following Saturday May 19.

crellston

I have done a similar trip 6/7 years ago by car, longtail boat, bus etc. I haven't done the cruise but the area is definitely worth visiting Wat Phou is impressive and unspoilt (or at least it was!) The Khong Pha is spectacular in the wet season but probaly less so in May. I was in Northern Laos a few weeks ago and the level of the Mekong was the lowest I have ever seen it. Apparently it is a combination of recent dry weather and the Chinese building more dams upriver. Main main comment is that Laos is very much a country to relax and chill out rather than rush about. With only 5 days or so in Laos I would suggest booking a nice hotel in Luang Prabang and taking some trips out from there. I will be posting the LP section of my recent trip in the next few days.

thursdaysd

With this kind of time I'd get the visas in Bangkok and skip Vientiane altogether. Do try to make it to LP, though.

Kathie

I agree with thursdays about getting your visa in Bangkok and flying to Pakse.

Wanda1

Great, that was my next question. I thought I had seen somewhere I could get a visa in Bangkok. Where would I do that? I tried googling this but didn't get good results.
Crellston - that was my point exactly to my husband, but I compromised to do the cruise then I guess I will have to stay on in LP until 5/21 by myself, cause LP was the point of my trip to Lao in the first place. Even though his logistics weren't planned well, he does come up with pretty cool places to visit. I presume I will just have to fly from LP to BKK to make my 11:55 P.M. flight out of BKK to U.S. I have been so looking forward to this LP trip. I better check with the cruise people to be sure the river isn't so dry. I'll see if I can search on Thai Air or Lao air to fly from LP to BKK.

thursdaysd

Lao visa in Bangkok - see http://www.bkklaoembassy.com/. Or any of the travel agencies around Khoa San road would be happy to do it for you for a fee. LP will be just fine on your own.

Kathie

You can get a Lao visa at the Lao Embassy in Bangkok.

Bangkok Air is the only airline that flies from LP to Bangkok. Someone posted recently about a new flight from Bangkok to Pakse. If you are looking at Lao Air flights, note that you cannot buy Lao Air tickets online. There is a website that looks like you can do it, but it's a scam. You'll need to buy tickets when you get there or have someone like Eddie [email protected] get your tickets for you and deliver them to your Bangkok hotel.

Scotters

You will have to change you itinerary somewhat as you may not have enough time to get the only 16.25 flight from Paske to Luang Prabang It would depend on when the boat tour returns.

If you get your Laos visa in the states then you could fly early saturday morning from Bangkok (the old airport) to Ubon Ratchathani (6am flight with Thai Air) and arrange with the boat tour to pick you up at the airport to get to the pier. I don't know how much they would charge. Otherwise you have to get to the boarder at Chong Mek and from there to Paske for the 10.30 sailing.

Coming back is just the reverse and catching the 18.20 flight from Ubon Ratchathani. Then you could fly to Luang Prabang the next day with Bangkok Air.

thursdaysd

Or you could take the night train from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani, getting in at 6:35 am.

Wanda1

Sounds like getting the visa in Bangkok travel agency is the way to go. Presume this doesn't take very long, maybe 1 hour you think? I wouldn't want to leave my passport anywhere.

Kathie

I seriously doubt you can get the visa in an hour in Bangkok. Even if you go to the embassy yourselves and pay an extra fee for an expedited visa, it'll take at least a half a day.

Scotters

You can get the visa in about an hour or more if you pay an express fee of 200 baht. But allow some time to get to their embassy as it quite a distance out of the centre of town. Fee is now $35us and you get a 30 day visa. I have heard that you can get a visa at the Chong Mek boarder now but cannot verify that. If you fly and at other popular land boarder points you can get the visa. Same price and duration. Used to be 15 days but that has changed.

Kathie

Do note that another traveller recently posted about a problem with a visa received at a land border that cost him US$100 when he left Laos... crellston is the poster.

thursdaysd

Any reason you're waiting until you get to SE Asia to get the visas? As scotters pointed out, if you get the visas before you leave for Thailand, you could take the Saturday cruise, giving you more time together in Luang Prabang. Although the cost of a taxi to the embassy in Bangkok will be less than the cost of Fedexing your passports to the embassy at home!

Wanda1

My husband is in the middle east and will be meeting me in BKK. There is no way he is mailing his passport to U.S. for the visa especially at this late date. I checked out the rates to fedex rush and also thought the taxi would be the way to go or travel agency, since I will still need to get his visa.

Still haven't worked out how to get from BKK to Pakse as there are no flights Sun. or Monday on Bangkok Air - Tuesday to Pakse arrives too late for the boat. We may have to skip the cruise or lengthy stay in BKK. This is what I get for doing things at the last minute. I'm hoping Eddie will be able to help with the flights. Also checking to see how taking the saturday cruise will work. thanks for all the ideas

Scotters

I looked at what happened to crellston and I have not heard of this before. It could have been an error at the boarder but asking for money at the airport is a pure scam. Nothing much one can do at the time other to report it to Lao officials at home. As to the conversion rate of 40 baht this is also used by the Bangkok embassy if you pay in baht rather than dollars.

Scotters

Bangkok Air only flies on Tuesdays and have no other flights. No other airline flies from Bangkok. I say your best bet is Thai to Ubon Ratchathani and arrange with the tour to pick you up. Same coming back to Bangkok.

For the visa take a taxi to the embassy, pay for express and just wait for it. This site shows a map where it is.
http://www.bkklaoembassy.com/Map/map.htm

Wanda1

Hello Scotters. Will be going with Thai to Ubon Rat... Does it matter which airport I fly out of? D... or B.... which one is more convenient?