Travel story : Vientiane - Luang Prabang.

Vientiane.

I have done the itinerary described below four times if I recall it well. On two occasions I just went to travel to Laos. On two other occasions I needed to go to the Thai consulate in Vientiane for a visa, and used the occasion to also revisit Luang Prabang.

The most economic way to reach Vientiane from Bangkok is to take a domestic flight from Bangkok to Udon Thani. This costs less than 2,000 baht. From the Udon Thani airport you can take a minibus to the Friendship bridge for 100 baht. The busride takes about one hour and will drop you off at a small bus station close to the border. There you can pay 10 baht to get on another bus that will take you to Thai immigration, and over the bridge to the Laos immigration. You will usually be told to put your luggage in the luggage compartment of the bus, so if you are worried about that, keep at least all your valuables with you while you are going though Thai immigration procedures. It will take about 5-10 minutes to do that. Immigration procedures, getting a visa on arrival at the Laos side, will take about 5-20 minutes. Do not forget you passport sized photographs, and 30 US$ cash for the visa on arrival. The last time I visited there was no local bank branch anymore at the site, so you will have to change some money at the banks in Vientiane to get the local currency (kip).

After going through immigration, you can take a taxi or soongthaew to Vientiane. It should cost you no more than 100 baht. Thai baht seems to be the accepted currency for this trip. The trip to Vientiane will take about 30-40 minutes. If you did not book a hotel in advance, Thanon Saam Seen Thai, is a good area to head for. There are many smaller and at least one big hotel in that area. I used to stay at Asian Pavillion hotel, about 20-30 US$ per night, but unfortunately the hotel has seen better days. A very good choice I think would be the Day Inn hotel. It is located at 059/3 Ban Sisakhet (behind the huge tourist hotel, I think it is called Lao Plaza). E-mail of the Day Inn : dayinn@laotelcom Prices are around 25 US$ a night.

To get around Vientiane, it is useful to rent a bicycle for about 10,000 kip per day. To keep it simple, 1 US$ is about 10,000 kip. You can change money at a local bank. You will need kip for the smaller purchases like food and drinks. Hotel bills can be settled in US$ and Thai baht likewise. Credit cards will be surcharged 3-4%.

Pha That Luang is about 3-4 km east out of town from central Vientiane. Pha That Luang is located on a vast open space. The gilded Pha is utterly beautiful in the full sunshine. During my last visit, lots of people were fixing tiles and repairing roof on all the surrounding temple buildings. A huge new temple building was being erected at the time of my last visit.

On the way from and to Pha That Luang you will pass Pratuxai monument. It resembles a famous building in Paris, at least from a distance. It is quite difficult to call it a beautiful monument, but it definitively has character. It is a good place to sit around for an hour in the late afternoon and observe what is going on. A lot of traffic on bicycles, cars and motorcycles pass around the place, but it still preserves some quietness. A lot of photographers seem to earn a living there, and some Laos peoples seem to date at the site.

In central Vientiane there are numerous other temples. Some older ones include Wat Si Saket (lots of Buddha images there) and Wat Prakaew, on which location once the Emerald Buddha has resided. Temples with active worshippers include Wat Si Muang and Wat In Paeng, both easily reached by bicycle.

About 20 km out of town(you actually pass close to the friendship bridge when going there) is Xieng Khuan, a 'Buddha park', with lots of weird sculptures of Hindu gods and Buddhas.

Strangely enough, I have to admit I do not have a lot of experience with Laos food, except for 'laab kay', minced chicken meat, preferably with sticky rice. The reason is that in the evening I usually head to the Central Fountain, which is surrounded by a few French and one Italian restaurant. Food is expensive by local standards, but still quite reasonable in the 5-10US$ range for a whole meal. This area is also quite good to sit around in the evening and enjoy a good Beer Lao. The recently refurbished fountain seems to be popular with locals alike, so lots of people strolling around till about 10 P.M. Shortly thereafter, the restaurants will close, and everybody will head home.

At the fountain, you will also find the Scandinavian bakery, very popular with travellers. Lots of people there to enjoy breakfast in the morning and pastries throughout the day. You can get a lot of coffee refills there is you need it.

Luang Prabang.

I have gone to Luang Prabang by plane on numerous occasions. While you can book a ticket at the Lao Aviation office in town, this does not seem to go without difficulties and takes considerable time, at least in my experience. Better to go to Diethelm Travel, close to the fountain. You will get a seat easily and for the same price. Be advised that travellers have recently been told by the U.S. authorities not to use Lao Aviation, because of concerns regarding the airplanes.

The flight to Luang Prabang takes only about 40 minutes. From the airport to town is about 20 minutes, bargain for a soongthaew outside the airport. Usually they will load different passengers with different destinations in town altogether.

Luang Prabang is located on the confluence of the Mekong and the Khan river. It is alltogether rather small, and certainly has about enough tourists around now. Hopefully it will not be developed much further.

In Luang Prabang I have always stayed at Phusi Hotel. This is relatively upmarket at 35-40 US $ a night. It has a nice garden, very good to relax in the evening. However, it is located a 10 minute walk from Luang Prabang main street. Main street or Thanon Phothisalat has a few bakeries and restaurants. Also nowadays quite a few cybercafes, so no difficulties here to keep in contact with your friends and relatives. While not a big area, it seems to be the place where a lot of people just hang out at all times of day.

Very closeby are the Royal Palace grounds. Nowadays the can be visited everyday. In the afternoon there is some traditional dancing in one of its buildings. The palace is certainly worth a visit. Inside it has the same kind of 'childish' figures on the walls, as you seen on the pictures from Wat Xieng Thong. Unfortunately no photographs can be taken inside. Close to the street is a new building, almost finished now, that is supposed to house the famous Prabang, a small Buddha figure, associated with Luang Prabang. The Prabang, possibly the real one, I am not sure about it, can be seen through a window at the Royal Palace.

There are many interesting temples to visit. It is not only their architecture or artistic value, but also the general atmosphere of Luang Prabang that makes this a pleasant experience. The most visited and interesting wat is most likely Wat Xieng Thong. It has beautiful mosaic decorations and gilded decorated walls and doors on its different temples.

Other temples that are certainly worth a visit are Wat Mai (gilded stucco's), Wat Aham (interesting paintings inside), and Wat Wisunalat. The central hill in Luang Prabang will five you a superb view over the Royal Palace and the rivers. On top you will find Wat Chom Si. It is a good walk upstairs to enjoy the sunset over the Mekong from up there. However if you stay somewhat longer, you will have ample time to visit many more places.

An interesting trip can be made to the Pak Ou Caves. They are caves located on the banks of the Mekong. The usual way to go is by soongthaew to a local village opposite the caves, and then take a boat to cross the river. The soongthaew trip one way takes about 50 minutes. Prices vary from 7-12 US $. On the way the driver will often stop at a local village, maybe you can ask him to do so. The caves are quite pictoresque and house thousands of small and bigger Buddha images. Do not forget, there are two caves, one close to the water and easily visible. For the upper one, you will have to climb some stairs, and rent a flashlight to see what's inside.

There are some waterfalls around Luang Prabang that are well worth a visit, particularly Kuang Si Falls. Another waterfall is Taat Sae Falls, but do not go there during the dry season, you will be disappointed.

Ban Phanom is reachable by bicycle outside town(4 km), but the road is not that easy. It houses an activeweaving industry. There is a local market catering to tourists, to sell colorful hand-woven cloth. If you go further down the road from Ban Phanom, you may be able to find the grave of Henri Mouhot, who'discovered' Angkor Wat. This would be a good exercise by bicycle. The grave itself is quite unremarkable. However, a healthy natural environment all the way to get there.

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