Lao visa in Phnom Penh, and the crossing at Stung Treng

Hi. I crossed cambodian/lao border with my 3 friends about week ago (6th November 2007). You have to get your visa in PP (ambassy at Mao Tse Tung Boulevard) in advance. This should be no problem. It took them only one day to proccess the request. We payed 25$ and got 60 day lao visa. Note that you will need to include 3 (!) passport photos - so gather them before you head to the ambassy ;). Crossing the border is easy as well, since there is new road all the way form PP to the border (the bridge in Stung Treng is not yet opened, but we were told it should be very soon). It is easy to get someone who arranges transport to the border for you in Stung Treng (either by boat or by car) but be careful - locals seem to overcharge for this service (especially individual owning corner restaurant next to the "Stung Treng Guesthouse" - liar of the year for sure as well) so haggle hard. Once at the border, the crossing is easy. Both Cambodian and Lao officers ask for 1 or 2 dolars to give you your passport back. Even if the border is probably not officially opened for foreigners nobody really cares about that...

P.S. Don't change any dollars for kip in Stung Treng. Locals lie about the exchange rates in Lao. Everyone on the Lao side of the border will happily give you at least 9000 kip for 1 dollar...