Hanuman
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<hr>BTW, you mentioned that your group payed U$200+ for the boat-trip all the way to LP, but I was wondering how many of you 'farangs' shared the boat?<hr></blockquote>
The way I read post #10
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<hr>But to my surprise i had 10 others travellers in the same bus.<hr></blockquote>
If all 10 people from the bus took the boat from Muang Khua to Luang Phrabang, it worked out to be about 20 dollars per "farang" (foreigner) for this 9 hour river trip. Would this seem to be about the normal foreigner price for this river trip?
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<hr>Another option to go to Luang Prabang from Meng Khuo is to take the bus to Udomxai (18,000kip), and from Udomxai to Luang Prabang (45,000kip).<hr></blockquote>
Total by bus for the same route would be about 63,000 kip. At today's exchange rate, that is about 7 US dollars. Is the river trip really worth the extra money?
If anyone did not see it, TT user lindzoo has also just recently done this crossing. See post #4 in the thread on
Click here
JB, I got through without visa! The Laosian custom official was asking me to get a visa from next window. I told him, "I'm Malaysian, no need visa".. He then refered to the chart in front of him.. and confirmed that. I'm not sure about vietnamese though.
Hanuman & DFHF,
There were 7 of us sharing the 2 Million Kip / USD200. (They preferred kip than USD, there's a bank for currency exchange in front of the bus station)
Think the boat can take up to about 11, coz' i tried to negotiate with them for 11 person the day before. But the rest wanted to stop at Muang Ngoi. so left the 7 of us. Basically, you have to charter the whole boat to Luang Prabang. The boat man offered the price at USD250, I managed to bring it down.
IMPORTANT Point to have a DIRECT BOAT to LP :
Pay only half of the price first, when you reach Luang Prabang then pay the other half. was told that, they often stop at Nong Khiaw to pick up more people or transfer boat.
It was a nice boat trip with really nice view... just that you'll get quite tired as we were just sitting on the planks like the normal sampan.
Hope this help.
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<hr>IMPORTANT Point to have a DIRECT BOAT to LP : Pay only half of the price first, when you reach Luang Prabang then pay the other half. was told that, they often stop at Nong Khiaw to pick up more people or transfer boat. <hr></blockquote>
siandcath. Above is an important point when negotiating a charter like this. If any other passengers come on to your private charter during such a trip, make sure to collect money from them. Don't be shy about it. Otherwise, deduct their fare from your final payment to the boatman. He should not be taking on additional passengers when on a private charter run. Make this clear during your negotiations to avoid any misunderstandings. Enjoy your visit.
Thanks again, koon. You have made history.
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<hr>He should not be taking on additional passengers when on a private charter run. Make this clear during your negotiations to avoid any misunderstandings. <hr></blockquote>
It will be quite difficult to communicate this and it's very unlikely that the boatman/pilot [and sometimes with his wife working behind the engine in the rear] that the boatman will heed such an agreement. Most of the boatmen in less touristed areas are locals that don't speak much English and it's usually the boat-master [usually a boat-master in the larger rivertowns] who negotiates with foreigners and books the trip with a boat-owner and his hired hand. So don't be surprised if the boat-owner/pilot stops to pickup passengers, especially if there's space and the route is part of his usual circuit. Also, this is Laos so take things with a litte of the 'boo pen ngang'='it doesn't matter' or 'no big deal' attitude, especially if the boat isn't full.
recT--on a previous journey from Muang Khua, we had to wait around several hours in the morning to finally get a boat-owner to make the trip to Moung Ngoi and in previous trips to Moung Ngoi, the boatmaster had informed me that the fare was U$60. I met a 'farang' couple that wanted to share the boat and as we were leaving, a Lao woman got on, and the couple immediately complained since we ended up negotiating a fare of U$12 each. Since there was a lot of room, it didn't seem like a big deal to me and after several more stops for locals to get on/off, the couple decided to 'chill' about it.
Koon:
Thanks again for the report and returning with further info. The price that they charged you seems pretty much in the ballpark since normally the boatlanding masters in Moung Ngoi and Nong Khiaw quote foreigners U$100 for the trip down/up to Luang Prabang. So in essence, you paid U$100 for the distance between Muang Khua and Moung Ngoi or Nong Khiaw for 7 which sounds fair enough, especially since petrol has gone up considerably in the last year.
Also, great advice about only paying half or so up front for the boat hire and then paying the rest upon arrival. On some stretches of Lao river trips, one does hear about boatmen stopping at remote spots en route and demanding more from their passengers.
Rectravel, Siancath.
Yes, it's good to make it as clear as possible before leaving. I had an express lesson with Lonely Planet pages at the back in Laosian before negotiating ;)
Get a paper ready. It's easier to communicate on paper with handsigns, watch and numbers. We just want to make sure the arrival time to reach Luang Prabang. Oh.. btw, i made them write the price and deposit we paid on the ticket issued at Meng Khuo before leaving. it was black & white.. hehe..
Hanuman,
I'm not sure if it was a good deal. But as far as i'm really concern it's an affordable price to me and fair for the boatman too. They have to make a living, so long not too much. Another group of 6 travellers who were with us in the mini bus from DBP paid for U$100 to Muang Ngoi.
When we stopped at Nong Khiaw for lunch, the boatman asked if we want to change to another "empty" boat stopped at the jetty. We said "No". Well... we were right not to switch boat, coz' when we returned, that boat was packed with almost 20 pax!
We may have paid a higher price, but at least we reached Luang Prabang in the suggested time, with more spaces for us to stretch our legs. ;)
going rate is USD100 per boat for both Muang Khua-Nong Khiaw & Nong Khiaw-Luang Prabang sectors, koon paid the usual price.
wanderingstraycat
You have some informative pictures from Muang Khua on your site on
http://thewanderingstraycat.blogspot.com/</a><BR><BR>koon<BR><blockquote>Quote<br><hr>Oh.. btw, i made them write the price and deposit we paid on the ticket issued at Meng Khuo before leaving. it was black & white.. hehe.. <hr></blockquote>
Thanks for the reminder to get everything down in writing. By chance, are you from Kuching? The boatmen there also have many tricks up their sleeves, no?
Wanderingstraycat,
Thanks for the confirmation. At least it's good to be fair to both parties ;)
Rectravel,
No, I was from Perak. Now working in Kuala Lumpur. It's quite embarrasing to say that i haven't been to Sarawak yet!! :((
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