Hi - was wondering if we need to have the hotels transport us from the airports in SR & LP or is it cheaper/pretty easy to find local transporation once we get there? Thanks!

Believe me, there will be taxi drivers waiting for every flight!

Price fixing is rife at LP airport. The touts attempt to charge a set fee for the very short trip into town. Price should be about US3-the drivers will take you for much less than the US5.50 the sign at the airport states. The big hotels want much more. We did not see one car taxi, only hotel cars and the little song thaews (you climb on in the back & sit on a bench seat). Laos is a poor country-you don't need to spend lots on local transport. Save it for the magic beer and the great food.

I took a car taxi from the airport to my hotel. I also engaged the driver for a day or two to take me to some places I wanted to go near LP. Many airports in the world have "fixed" prices into town (NYC, for instance) and while you may be able to bargain for less, the posted price does provide a reasonable guideline. (I gladly paid US$5.)

Thanks - that's helpful. Sounds like the hotels charge more for pickups (makes sense) than the local transport. I think we will stick with the latter - it also might be more of an adventure!

One other thing - if u are booking a car and driver for the temples in SR your pick up is included (also your drop if u use them that day). basically, they work on a per diem so the US$20 we paid icnluded our pick up and drop as we took an early morning flight in and left the next evening and used them for the temples both days.