Quote:
Originally Posted by z32fanatic
Hey guys,
My friend and I are traveling to Bangkok on the 21st and another friend of mine suggested this trip plan....
Leave Bangkok on the evening of the 23rd and fly to Chiang Mai
Leave Chiang Mai on the 25th or 26th and fly to Luang Prabang via Laos Airlines
Leave Luang Prabang on the 28th and go to Vieng Veng (sp?) via train or something (not really sure about how to get there)
Get from Vieng Veng to Veitmeng (capital sp?) on the 30th and take a first class night train back to Bangkok
Fly out of Bangkok on the 31st....
Is this trip plan too ambitious? If so what should we skip? What are good day trips, cool adventure type stuff to do at these places. Keep in mind we aren't going to get ass or anything, we just want to have a cool adventure type trip, think white water rafting, seeing cool animals, some ancient temples in jungles and ****.
Thanks for the help,
Bigjoe
i did a trip a lot like this when i was there. in general, it's going to be a bit fastpaced, and there are probably going to be places you wish you'd had more time at. but that's kind of always the case when you do these things. there are people here that will tell you to fade laos altogether, but i think they're wrong, and i think that, given the type of trip you're looking for, you'll have a great time in laos.
some things to know... the trains are all pretty ****ty and uncomfortable. so you just gotta know that going in and be ready to deal with it. it's not really that bad though, as long as you're not a huge priss or anything.
one thing i would say is maybe cut one day out of chiang mai and add it to bangkok at the end... and take another day off bangkok at the beginning and add it to the end. after all that backpacking/whatever, you're going to want to party a bit, and bangkok is a MAAAAD place to party. it really is nuts, and is worth experiencing.
as far as cool day trips, what you'll find is that at each place you go to, there will be tons of **** posted about stuff to do near the town you're staying in. and every tuk-tuk driver has a brother or a cousin or something that runs some sort of tourist thing, thats going to want to take you to the waterfall, or the elephants, or the bamboo rafting. just try to choose a good "tour company" and go for it. but for that stuff, i dont think youll ever really need to plan more than a day ahead.
the capital is vientiane (i think pronounced vee-in-chang, but this was the subject of much controversy), and its pretty sweet. rent some bikes and wail around the city for a day. i dont think youll need much time there though.
you'll hear about people going tubing down the river, probably around either luang prabang or vang vieng. do this. essentially you go tubing and they have these little stands set up where they sell you beer and you just get housed on your way down the river. also do the bamboo rafting, its pretty money. i fell in while going through a rapid. my guide, and the girls i was with, laughed at me pretty hard. i had fun. elephant ride is definitely worth it as well.
i mean, basically, all the tourist **** you'll hear about is worth doing, there's a reason it's so popular. and maybe pick up a lonely planet guide or something for thailand and laos and see if there's some sweet stuff that you won't hear about that you can check out on your own.
i think your schedule looks good though, i would just chop a day off chiang mai and chop a day off bangkok in the beginning, and spend those extra two days checking out bangkok before you leave. also, if you're into scuba diving or snorkeling or any of that, obviously there are a lot of opportunities to do that in thailand, so if you want to add a week onto your trip, you could check out some of the beaches down south.
anyway, enjoy dude. hope you have as good a time as i did. one of the best things i've ever been able to do as a result of poker.