15 days in north thailand+laos

OOOoops! but admit they are more ecofriendly than they used to be Ha! Ha! on a similar note if you take the pick up f(Songthaw )rom Sayanbouli to Pak lai you can experience lots of elephants on the way as they decimate the teak Timber forests all around that area in the name of progress lol

Hi Brax! Well, I have 18 max to go to laos. The alternative is to stay in Thailand.

I never went so I can only try to guess what I will like the most... But I can try to tell you what I'm looking for by picking laos over just staying in Thailand the remaining time I have. I want to see beautiful places and cultures where I'm not always surrounded by other tourists. Even though I don't have too much time to chill I do want to go to calm places. I am really attracted by the northern part of Laos, if I could I would only do like luang namtha muang sing nong kiaw muang ngoi and luang prabang then back to bangkok. That might be possible if I flight between places but I won't have the money for it. That itinerary is so I can go back to bangkok to catch my flight. I could just not rush and stay in Thailand but I do wan't to see Laos and I'm still young and can always comeback, just don't think I want to leave Laos to my dreams for now... even if I don't have much time...

Montyman, I think I would prefer the slowboat, it will give me time to decide the next days and to relax a bit. I will look at it like a cruise! not so much getting to Luang prabang. I won't go to cambodia after, I will go to bangkok to catch my flight home.

Ok marianne heres you laos itinary : 18 days from bangkok 1 night 1 days do the palace and river bus etc and 4pm head for Morchit bus station no 3 local bus from kaosan rd will take you there OK then cheap overnight bus to Changmai get there early am take shared songthaw (pick up) to katchasarn rd Top north GH (not their hotel) great place to stay back of Tiger kingdom.
same day do the trek 1 night 2 days mae rim or mateng to include bamboo rafting white water rafting and elephant ride + waterfalls swim etc around 800 baht next day take the speedboat all inclusive trip to Luam Phrabang 1,800 to 2,000baht Luam phrabang ask for GH on river front near tourist office great breakfast bar on corner of street 1st morning waterfalls trip with the ebars etc and afternoon palace and evening theatre at palace 2 days here total so far 6 full days OK
day 7 vang vienne evening sunset on river next morning tubing afternoon reclining Bhudda cave and bus to to Ponsivon from here 2 days (plain of jars trip 1 day ) and bus to Paaxan next am straight onto early am bsu to Nahin route 8 konglor caves trip back to junction stay overnight here nice Gh at junction and restaurant, next am back to vientianne and out to Nong Kai /udonthani and overnight bus direct to Chantaburi and Trat 2 days on beach Koh Chang and then bus direct to airport fly home
how does that sound

Hey montyman! I will be in Myanmar before (flights booked) and have 11 days before going to myanmar that I think I'll spend in siem reap and thailand. My question is about the 18 days I have after I arrive to bangkok before i leave to my home.
I have a question for you since you travel a lot in Laos:
I read in a website:

"From December 2013 you will be able to simply get a connection to Luang Namtha from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai as the new friendship bridge across the Mekong will be opened for border crossings, making getting to Laos much faster and easier."
source: http://luangnamthaguide.com/2013/10/the-slow-boat-vs-northern-laos/

Do you know anything about this? It would be great and I might skip any trekking in chiang mai to do it there and then went to Luang prabang from there! I'm excited with this idea.

PS.: I saw you flickr montyman AMAAAZING(!!) photos from Laos!

new bridge opened dec 11th
from Chiang Khong .
You can then jump on a boat to Luang Prabang or bus it up to Luang Namtha ( I drove it in 4 hours in July)

Even before the bridge was opened you could do the trip with a ferry boat crossing

This is my last trip from Phuket thru northern Thailand-Laos-Cambodia

2013 trip

Lots of trekking companies in Luang Namtha and Muang Sing

you will find that in laos apart from Phongsali in Luam Namtha, nong Khiaw and Luam Phrabang most trekking companies are expensive ex pat owned. whereas Thai trekking may be a bit touristy but cheap and cheerful. a shared taxi from Houyxai might be best and cheapest to Luam Namtha but for me the best scenic journey is from Nong Khiaw to Sam neue or Ngam Muan; then onto Ponsivon back up to Luam Phrabang and down to Vang v and vientianne you have 15 days. This year we spent just 3 weeks Thailand Chiangmai to laos and also Cambodia with beach in between.
Personally id skip Luam namtha in favour of Konglor caves and Pakse (day trip bolavan plateau and a kyak trip don det to old border wernkham and dolphins plus Phapheng rapids and then out to Pakse and off to Koh Chang for 2 days on beach from there via Korat bus station to Chantaburi and Trat maybe an alternative which I did a couple of years ago was speedboat to Pakbeng then straight off on bus to Oudamsai overnight here and then minivan to Nong Khai watch out for bedroom thieves here and Mong Noi (cling to your money at all times in this place as its organised stealing from tourists rooms etc) boat or minivan to Luam phrabang

I might consider skipping Luang Namtha in favor of konglor cave. Just might not go for koh chang since before I'm going to myanmar I have 11 days on witch I'm thinking to go to siem reap and some beach time at thailand.

11 days siem reap and some beach
8 days myanmar
18 days laos and northen thailand

(This dates are pretty much set since I have the flight in and out of bangkok and yangon/mandalay from bangkok, just not the locations on both 11 days before and 18 days after which are up to me to decide)

About Thai trekking, I hear the trekking to villages is not worth in Thailand and it's close to a human zoo. I don't know if that's true, I don't know the different packages there is and companies.

Do you recommend any activity in particular , location or company to trek in northern Thailand?

I would like to do some trekking but I'm getting mixed reviews saying it's way better in Laos vs you saying it's easier and cheaper in Thailand (i'll travel in the cheap side so that concerns me)

We r doing a similar route next mth. We plan abt 2days in vientiane. At abt 4pm we will catch a public bus to plain of jars arriving by 2am. We will will spend next day at plain of jars. Following day catch d d earliest public bus to luang prabang reaching around 4pm. Will spend about 3 days at lp. Then take 14hr vip sleeper bus in the evening to huay xai. For us we intend to spend more time in chiangmai.

Ur question will entail how u plan to cross over to chiangmai. We plan to do it d cheapest so will catch ferry from huay xai to chiang kong then an hr bus from ck to chiangrai. There is a 4pn raft boat dat takes abt 4hr to take u over to thaton. Thaton is 3hr public bus ride to chiangmai. U would have some time in between all these for sightseeing though not extensively.

I suggest you take the speedboat direct to Houyxai this will mean you get there same day and mean an extra day in Laos and you can cross border same day the 14 hr trip is not the most comfortable Ha! Ha! but the 6 hrs speedboat ride has great scenery and you stop for lunch 1 hr pak beng for me its speedboat every time

No we r trying to avoid d speedboat. D 14hr overnight bus is not cast in stone yet. We may break it up in parts n do it as a day thingy.