Laos

Hi!

I received my Lao visa in BKK, it doesn't say duration of stay, only valid from 31.10.07 to 30.12.07, but yesterday (04.11.07) I crossed the border from Thailand to Laos in Chong Mek (near Pakse) and the stamp says "admitted 02.01.2008", even longer than my visa validity :)

I asked for 30-days visa in the embassy in Bangkok and I actually never heared about 60-days stamps, all the people seem to get 30-days stamp.

Did they change the rules?

I was planning to stay longer than 30 days anyway…

Hi all,

I'm trying to find a guide book (LP, footprint, any reasonably current one will do) for Indonesia in Vientiane in the next 3 weeks. I leave for Indonesia late November, so anyone here at the moment who has one, who will be travelling through, or knows where one is in town, please let me know!!

Thanks,

Dom.

Hi guys,

Was wondering if someone can give me some info. I am trying to work out the cheapest way from Laos into Vietnam. One of the ways I had planned was to do the 24 hour bus trip from Vientiane to Hanoi. However, I will then have to double back from Luang Prabang. So my question is whats the cheapest way to get from Luang Prbang to Hanoi? I know I can fly but I can't seem to get any prices up on the lao Airlines website. Is there a bus??

Thanks,

Jess

Hi from Italy, does anybody have been at Khongsavath Guesthouse in Luang Prabang? At the moment it's the only available guesthouse I found in LP for Christmas period; I got very few info about it, even if it sounds a good place. Thanks a lot
Laura

Have any Zimbabweans had first hand experience entering Loas without obtaining a visa before arriving at the border? I know this is easy for most passport holders but some citizens don't have the same freedom.

Thanks

A guide here in Luang Nan Tha told me that the Phongsali district has better jungle, more rugged mountains and more interesting hill tribes than around Luang Nan Tha. This is a glowing report considering that he makes his money out of the Luang Nan Tha district.
So has been to Phongsali and what did you think?

When I got my visa at the friendship bridge I assumed that it would have stated the duration of stay. Now that I am in Luang Nan Tha I have just looked at my visa and it does not.
So how many days duration is my stay? Is there any way of finding out rather than getting fined at the border when I try and exit?

Can anybody give me any recent accounts of crossing from northern Cambodia into southern Laos? I will be needing to get a Lao visa, this I know. Any tips or advice about getting the visa in PP? Cost, delay, etc.? Any shenanigans by the border guards on either side? Any transport scams or nightmares? Are foreigners allowed to cross there at this time? (Some websites say foreigners can't cross there, but I think that might be outdated info.) Any groovy guesthouses along the southern Laotian Mekong…

I am just beginning to plan a 7-1/2 week trip to SE Asia - my husband and I will be there from around December 11th-February 5th. Our plan is to visit Thailand (including some island time and diving), Laos, and Cambodia (just Angkor Wat and maybe Phnom Penh). It will be our first time in SE Asia.
We'd like to do some trekking, and since it seems that both Northern Thailand and Laos are good places for this, would it be worthwhile to do both, or better to just leave the trekking part for Laos?
…

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to get tickets for this?