Vientianne

[chrismann]

Has anybody got any recent info on Vientianne? Namely are visas available on arrival,places to go for action, prices nand hotels. Thanks Chris

[Sporty]

Howdy...

 

Go to REGIONAL SANUK, you will see about Laos and the night life.

 

Yes, Visa on arrival, available $25 USD... Many Guest houses and hotels, not an issue. By Bus, over the Friendship Bridge, is the easiest entry. Either from Nong Khai, or Udon Thani, to get the bus.

 

Bring 2 Passport Photos.

[limbo]

Friendship brige is momentarily closed due to a big crack in the bridge.

[Fidel]

Hey. As I recall its actually 30 bucks for a visa... oh, and bring dollars or you'll be charged 1,500 baht.. nearly 40 bucks, bastards!

 

Vientiane is great but you're doig the right thing by checking it out here before you go... have a look at the other thread.

[Encore]

When you do your search, search for "Vientiane', one n in the last bit, otherwise you get a blank.

 

Limbo, wasn't that crack in the bridge to Burma via Mae Sot?

probably too many teak trees on the truck. I haven't heard a word about the Friendship bridge closed. need to know, i'm crossing the other way on friday.

 

OP, if you want to stay in Lao PDR more then 2 weeks, cheaper to get a one month's visa in BKK or KhonKaen.

 

Places to go for action, yes there have been a few threads lately on regional sanuk, just search.

 

or ask Nervous Dog, he's a connoisseur.

 

me, as a local dog, I cannot afford to soil my own doorstep (apart from the occasional happy ending at my local Massage parlour).

 

but if you're desperate late at night, ask a Tuktukdriver, or pick up a streetwalker on the road south of the fountain, one or two blocks east of it. can't miss, they'll find you.

 

Mind the hotels, most don't accept "guests' but she'll know where to go.

 

Fidel, my friend, how do you like Pakistan after Lao? Must be a shock to the system. How's sanuk there? :-)

 

[Fidel]

Hi Ikkrang,

 

Shock to the system? Jesus.. or should I say Allah! The Sanuk is non-existant! No bars... There is a Chinese club where you can pick up girls, I dunno how much it costs though, anywhere from 100-200 USD I'm told.

 

Pakistan is ok. Its new, I needed a change of scenery. In any case, I'm relatively young, I can head back to SEA at any point.

 

Missing it though. I'll be in Vientiane in October. Might see you then?

 

[Flashermac]

I paid US$25 for a Laos visa at the Wiengchan airport a couple of years ago. Since then, I've heard it's gone up to $30.

 

It's an easy one hour flight from Don Muang on Air Lao. (It might take you longer than that to get to Don Muang!)

 

Getting off of the plane -- I refuse to use "words" like "deplaning" -- is a shock. You are suddenly hit with clean air and all of that oxygen can be dangerous to your Bangkok lungs!

 

It's also like being in the Twilight Zone. You feel like you are in 1970 again, with Toyopets and Datsun Blue Birds for taxis and hardly any car on the road that is newer than 1975. Unfortunately, the commie bastards banned pedal samlors from the city. (But they have paved a lot of the roads that I remember as being dirt or gravel back in the 1970s. Plus the ersatz "Arc de Triomphe" is no longer in the middle of a traffic circle. I kind of liked it better when it was.)

 

 

 

 

[Encore]

FM > It's also like being in the Twilight Zone. You feel like you are in 1970 again, with Toyopets and Datsun Blue Birds for taxis and hardly any car on the road that is newer than 1975. Unfortunately, the commie bastards banned pedal samlors from the city. (But they have paved a lot of the roads that I remember as being dirt or gravel back in the 1970s. <

 

Hey Mac, i think you may not have been here for a couple of years. Car ownership has mushroomed in the past 4 years, and VT is now crammed with new Pickup trucks and Prados.

 

Also, you may have liked the dirt roads (nostalgia), but in wet season they were mud traps, and in dry season dust covered everything. I quite like the seal.

 

And although again nostalgia is nice, I think there is a case to be made that says "getting another human being to drag you from point a to point be by sweating and using their muscle power is like using slave labour" You want to go somewhere, walk or get a tuktuk!

 

 

[limbo]

ikkrang,

 

you may be right, it could be the Mae Sot bridge, but I can't confirm it.

 

Maybe check a Thai newspaper since it was on Thai news TV yesterday.

[Flashermac]

<< And although again nostalgia is nice, I think there is a case to be made that says "getting another human being to drag you from point a to point be by sweating and using their muscle power is like using slave labour" You want to go somewhere, walk or get a tuktuk! >>

 

But the govmt has not outlawed them in Laos, just in the capital city ... as not fitting the image they want to present.

 

As a middle age Laotian said to me, "How are the samlor drivers supposed to support themselves now? I feel sorry for them."

 

p.s. I have never once ridden in a pedal samlor in Wiengchan, but they were part of the image. As to it being "slave labour". I wasn't aware that slaves were paid or had the option to quit any time they wanted to.