Eh, gotta drop of my visa Thursday morning and pick it up friday afternoon. It doesn't look like I'll get to do the river tubing. Still looking forward to hanging out in Laos for a few days. I think I'll be staying at the Don Chan Palace Hotel - just waiting for confirmation. Thanks for the link and all your help WhoIam.

lol A+ TR housenuts

do i need spare paspport photos to entr laos from airport? im in thailand if it matters

It costs an extra dollar if you don't have a picture.

Laos needs more dreadlocked backpackers

From Screech I can confirm that Don Chan Palace has reliable internet (through an ethernet cable if that matters) and costs something like $85/night if you book online. Make sure you book online or they will charge you significantly more. Here's a map of the nicer hotels in the city: http://directrooms.com/laos/hotels/v...els/price1.htm The ones located out of that area would be too far away from the "downtown" for most people.

Laos made a deal with the devil with the Chinese government and they will now build a development "with a Manhattan-like skyline" near Wat Luang, the country's national symbol. This will be home to 50k Chinese. wtf?

I heard this is part of a deal where China is building a brand new national stadium , as Lao will host south east asian games or something next year.

Btw here is another food delivery service : http://www.cafedesartslaos.com/

Is this place any good? This country has taught me not to get pizza anywhere that hasn't been recommended. The pasta looks good.

how hard will it be to find an actual opium den? that's been one of my goals for some time, and when burma went to hell, i thought i'd lost my last chance to easily find one

Unfortunately the government has really cracked down on opium and production has plummeted. While you can get it reasonably easily, it's far more expensive than you would think and there's no way any establishment would be ok with you smoking it. You could probably find something in really rural areas but it would be more like lying down on some pillows in a shack while some old woman lights a pipe for you while you're praying you don't get robbed.

in the north it should be super ez. a lao guy that lived in my building a while, arranged "package tours" for opium tourists. if u just wanna buy the opium u can get it ezly anywhere. the guy i get weed from can get anything. i tried opium in cambodia.. hurt my stomach. kinda glad i didnt like it, or id probably be there still. lol rambling i know. ask me something specific i will check this thread again when rested, just came off a 14hour mtt session.

tried to order the other day, but it was in daytime and they are open only morning and nights >???????)

however, although the pizzas from this http://www.xayohgroup.com/delivery/index.html
are CRAP, some of the other stuff on the menu is actually good. sandwiches are fine, chicken wings are delicious. also garlic bread. stay away from fries tho. they are also super fast and dont mind delivering for like 30 000 kip orders. delivery is free. never took more than like 20 - 30 min to si muang where i live.
nice to have an alternative to the swedish pizza kinda feel like ive eaten enough of those for a lifetime

btw any live poker goin on ? do u have chips?

I don't know of any live poker, but I'm sure it exists. I would be really scared to play since even a $1/2 game would have an unimaginably large amount of money on the table for a Lao person and would be an easy target. I'd be interested in setting up a $10 SnG HORSE game or something similar that would just be a way to have stupid fun and drink beer.

Hi! Found this forum while doing my research on Laos. Looks like a nice hangout with some very well informed and friendly people. A few things about myself. I didn't plan come to Laos. In fact, I was thinking of hitting Pattaya next. Spent a week in Patong, Phuket early last month, so Pattaya seems to be a logical next target. How on earth was I led "astray", I cannot recall but one thing is for sure, the more I read about Laos, Vientiane in particular, the more I'm fascinated by it. But I do have a few questions. Hope you can help me out with them.

1. Has anyone here tried flying Laos Airlines before? How safe is it? What would one recommend for travelling from BKK to VTE? Air? Coach (i.e. to Nong Kai or Udon Thani)?
2. Can a foreigner sign up for a cellphone line?
3. Are prepaid cards readily available? If so, where can one buy them?
4. Would someone who can't speak a single word of Lao and barely a few words of Thai find it hard to get by in Vientiane?
5. Where are the hottest spots in town to pickup some deliciously WET Laotian pussies and horny ladyboys? I've heard there are some to be found at Don Chan Palace Nightclub, Marina Nightclub, Bor Pen Nyang Bar, D-Music (Novotel), Future Joker Nightclub - near the Novotel, opposite the BCEL bank by the Mekhong (forget the name), Samlo Pub and Kop Jai Deu but are these all there is to it? Where else would you recommend? How conversant in English are the girls at these places?
6. What would a typical night out come to in terms of damage/cost (i.e. beer, gals, barfine (if any), transport)?
7. What are some of the hotels/guesthouses that are "girl friendly" with no joiner fees?
8. How readily available are condoms in VTE? What's the quality like?

Many thanks in advance.

Sounds kinda familiar. For a foreigner dating/marrying a Thai girl (especially one from a poor family e.g. those from Isan), the foreigner is also expected to pay for a ton of things for the gal's family and kin. Things ranging from her younger brother's school fees, to money for patching up some leakage from the roof to money for the upkeep of her parents, etc. At least, this seems to be the collective experience of those I know who have dated or are married to Thai ladies from improverished backgrounds. I suppose one should not be at all surprise to find Laotians to be the same as they like the Thais (especially those from Isan) share many similar attributes e.g. language (i.e. Tai-Kedai)), religion, festivals, customs and belonging to this Tai nation thingy.

Horny ladyboys?! You know these are men right??

If that's your thing then you will be in heaven in Pattaya! I've never been to Laos, but I don't think they have (m)any ladyboys

I know. It's just that I heard it's kinda difficult to tell them apart at times especially those in Laos. So what the heck! No one will know me think

But seriously, I'm more interested in the ladies not so much the ladyboys. i.e. the chicks not the chicks with dicks. But desperate times may call for desperate measures. When a man needs to do some serious poking, a man has got to do some serious poking. One way or another

i flew lao airlines from luang prabang to vte. no problems although it was a propeller plane.

Lao Air is less safe than other airlines but obviously still very safe. I'd be a little concerned if I were constantly traveling around the country on business though. If you're concerned you can pay a bit more and go from BKK via Thai Airways. There's also the sleeper train and VIP busses from Bangkok. You can also fly to Udon and take a shuttle here.
You can buy a sim card for about $5 and refill cards are sold everywhere.
Would not be a problem
Bor Pen Nyang is good. Samlo has plenty of girls but they're almost all ugly. Everyone ends up at Don Chan Palace because it's the only place open after 1130 and there are tons of girls here, especially now in the off season. You can also meet girls at Music House which has live music and is kind of pricey.
It really depends on what you're eating/drinking. If you stick to beer you can easily spend less than $10/night. Prices range from a little under a dollar for a large beer to about $3 for a large Beerlao at Don Chan. There are no barfines because there are no beer bars or gogo bars, only freelancers.
Some places will not let you bring a girl back. Ones I know that are fine with it are Samsenthai Hotel and Chindamay hotel. Both of these are fairly inexpensive and are clean, have TVs, etc. If you want to spend $100/night you can stay at Don Chan itself which makes everything easier.
They have the same western brand as in Thailand (Durex?) and these will be at most minimarts. There are a couple asian brands out there but these tend to be smaller and probably of worse quality.

Propeller planes? Hmmm could be worth a try. Sounds kinda exciting actually...many thanks JMa

Mucha gracias WhoIam for taking the time. Maybe we and anyone else interseted, can meet up for a couple of drinks when I hit VTE. Tentatively, trip will be in Late Aug/early Sept.

YOU WANT SOMETHING, LADY, MARIJUWANA?


No but I loved it there, cute city.

Sorry guys have couple more questions. How dusty is Vientianne as compared to say BKK, HKT?

What is the average temperature for the months of May to September like?

Are there any major events (i.e. regional summits, parliamentary or Communist Party congresses, etc) planned for the period from May to September? Any of such that you know of guys?

Do correct me if I'm wrong but I heard that the kip (LAK) is nonconvertable and is worthless outside of the LPDR, can I exchange them for e.g. USDs and bahts at say the BCEL, JDB or other Laotian banks before I depart? Are there any places where I can change LAKs at good rates? Where can I find these other moneychangers?

Many thanks in advance.

Much less polluted than bkk, but obviously this isn't true if you're walking next to a main rd or something. It can get smoggy when the humidity is really high.
Hot, maybe 32-42 C. About the same as Thailand.
You would have to google this.

There are moneychangers everywhere, both independent and connected to banks. You can find better exchange rates if you need to exchange large amounts of cash but I'm not sure why you would for a shorter trip. There are also plenty of ATMs to get cash at too. Kip are worthless outside Laos.

I've been writing a bunch of stuff for a blog/travel website I have planned. Unfortunately my first choice, lifeinlaos.com, is already a website. Anyone have any ideas for a name? I want an independent website, not xxxxxxxxx.wordpress.com.