Laos: The Basics

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

TRANSPORT Having come from Thailand, we were used to smooth roads and safe drivers. Well, what a shock we were in for now we’d made it to Laos. Maybe we were just unlucky, but the two bus journeys we had to endure were pretty dire. Especially our one from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. There’s just a lot of dusty dirt track roads with bumps amongst countless twists and turns (everyone agreed the 762 bends between Chiang Mai and Pai seemed positively easy compared to the Laos journeys). We also had a very reckless driver so just be warned you may have your heart in your mouth when on buses here.

GOING FROM THAILAND TO LAOS

(I mention this at the end of my final Thailand blog) If you’re going from Thailand to Laos you can do it by bus or slow boat (you could fly too but we never looked into this). We chose the slow boat which was 1,800 baht (£44). This included a transfer form Pai to Chang Kong, accommodation at Chang Kong with free dinner and breakfast, transport from Chang Kong to the slow boat, and then the two days on the slow boat. We did have to get accommodation for our one overnight in Pakbeng (the area you stay after the first slow boat day) but it only cost us £2.85 and we were able to book it before boarding the boat. It is good crack and a lot of people just get drinks and play cards whilst boozing all day on the river.

WHERE TO GO In Laos the two top spots are Luang Prabang, which we did first, and Vang Vieng. We absolutely loved both and the 4,000 islands, which are South, are also meant to be great. We only missed these out as there’s a risk of malaria, we didn’t feel we had time to go and wanted a full month in Vietnam, and all of us had heard mixed reviews of Laos so didn’t want to commit to a long time here if we found it disappointing; which we didn’t. We also spent an afternoon in Vientiane as we got a night bus to Hanoi from here but a few hours was enough. I definitely wouldn’t recommend going unless you’re just stopping to break up a journey, or using the airport. It’s just very humid and a bit of a let down after Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng.

CURRENCY In Laos they use Laos Kip. 11,000 kip is roughly £1 so we ended up with huge amounts of kip here. It was a bit of a pain and it made splitting bills very confusing as most bills were over 100,000 kip (under £10) and no one would ever have the exact amount. The smallest note you can get is 500 kip so if you’re lucky enough to be blessed with one of these treasure it (I’ve kept my only 500 kip note).

EVERYTHING ELSE In terms of food, it’s very similar to Thailand except there is no 7/11. It’s a lot more underdeveloped so you’ll be buying water and snacks from make shift shops on the side of the road. Supermarkets are a serious rarity and in Vang Vieng the only mini mart we could find was constantly opening late, closing early, or just shut (we started to think they just didn’t want us there). With clothes it’s also the same so give my “Thailand: The Basics” blog a read for advice on clothing and useful apps to have downloaded etc.