WinterTravel

We like to travel in Asia over the December holiday period and are thinking of a trip to Laos and Vietnam (or Myanmar). Is this period very busy in this region and is booking far, far in advance necessary to get the top hotels? What is the best way to plan to get around?

Kathie

Yes, it is the busiest time of the year for all of SE Asia. If you are looking to go to Luang Prabang, it appears that hotels are booked well into February. It really may not be prectical for this year. (The holidays are almost here!) The best (fastest, easiest) way to get from country to country is to fly.

Have you booked tickets in and out of Asia yet? That will be your first hurdle, as most flights are full and those that are not may be very expensive.

WinterTravel

Kathie - We do indeed have already have tickets into Asia(to/from Singapore). It is a long story, but we had another trip planned that may not work out now. We just decided to look into Vietnam (and perhaps Laos) instead, so it will be a bit of a scramble to get it all together. We realize it is rather last-minute for Christmastime, but are hoping that hotels/internal flights might still be available. Any advice?

Kathie

VN might be eaasier than Laos beacuse it has better infrastructure. I'd call and see if I could get fights/hotels. It's certainly worth a try. And sometimes ther are last minute cancellations.

If you want to see Luang Prabang (and it is one of my favorite places), I'd check on places to stay and on flights now. For a brief time, Silk Air was advertising flights to LP from Singapore. I don't know if they have them again or not, but do check.

WinterTravel

Thanks Kathie. We are checking into availability for Luang Prabang (thinking that we could fly there from Hanoi as part of a trip to the area). Vietnam Airlines does not seem to have a functional website -- do you have any other suggestions about how to book flights?

Have you spent time in Vietnam? Have you been to the far north (near the border with China)?