The Best of Cambodia & Laos

A simple river crossing connects Tha
Khek in Laos to Nakhon Phanom in northwestern
Thailand. The trip, on a floating
vehicle platform, runs about six times a day.
Visa on arrival is available. The two towns
are right opposite each other and you can
virtually exit the restaurant in Nakhon
Phanom where you had a late breakfast and
step off the ferry into a restaurant on the
Lao side for an early lunch.
The mainland entry point from Thailand
is at Nong Khai/Vientiane. Visa on
arrival is available. The bridge is 22km (14
miles) from Vientiane and 2km (1 1 ⁄4 miles)
from Nong Khai. Transport is easy at every
stage. Since 2009, this is also where the
international rail connection enters Laos
with trains running direct from Bangkok’s
Hualamphong Station to Thanalaeng station
near Vientiane (p. 210). There is little
point in staying on the train; it is far simpler
to disembark in Nong Khai and cross
the normal way.
Huay Xai/Chiang Khong is the northern
entry point if you are making the river
trip to Luang Prabang via Pakbeng. Visa
on arrival is available.
If you’re coming by land from Vietnam,
you can cross from Sop Hun to Tay Trang.
This consists of the road from the rugged
former battlefield of Dien Bien Phu, which
has only just recently opened to international
travelers. Visa to Laos is available on
arrival, but not so if you’re going the other
way. The road on the Lao side can close in
rainy season.
NamCan to Nam Khan is a convenient
crossing if you want to travel from Hanoi
to Luang Prabang (although its still a bit
of a slog from Hanoi to Vinh) and the rest
of northern Laos. Visa to Laos is available
on arrival, but the same is not true if entering
Vietnam from Laos. There are buses
covering the 12-hour, 400km (248-mile)
trip from Vinh to Phonsavan. You actually
can do the through trip all the way from
Luang Prabang to Vinh, but it’s not
advised unless you are in a very great hurry
or have tendencies to self harm since it is a
fearsomely arduous journey of 690km
(428 miles).
Dansavanh to Lao Bao was the first
land border to open between Laos and
Vietnam in the early ’90s, and is now an
international highway and the main artery
from Thailand to Vietnam. The advantage
of going this way is that on the Vietnamese
side you are treated to the spectacular
scenery around Khe Sanh. The disadvantage
is that if you are doing Vietnam from
north to south or south to north, this
border crossing brings you right to the
middle of the country near Da Nang and
Hue. Visa to Laos is available on arrival,
but a visa to Vietnam is not. Buses run
directly from the Savannakhet on the
Thai/Laos border to Hue in Vietnam.
If you are coming to Laos from China,
crossing from Boten to Mengla between
Luang Nam Tha province in Laos and
Yunnan in China is the only option. Visa
on arrival is available for Laos but unavailable
for China if heading in the opposite
direction.
By Bus
From Cambodia, Sorya Transport
(012/631-545; www.ppsoryatransport.
com) runs a bus from Phnom Penh to
Stung Treng on the Laos border. It leaves
daily at 7:15am from the bus station south
of the Central Market (the return trip also
departs Stung Treng daily at 7:15am) and
costs 42,000 riel. From Stung Treng, you
can arrange transport to the border.
Getting from any major Thai town or
city to any border crossing with Laos is a
very simple task since buses are frequent,
cheap, efficient, and ubiquitous. Buses
from Bangkok’s Morchit Northern Bus
Terminal take about 9 hours and usually
leave Bangkok in the evening and travel
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PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO LAOS 10
GETTING THERE & GETTING AROUND