The Best of Cambodia & Laos

will help your blood pressure to plan trips
in short stages.
On major routes, minibuses will parallel
the public buses for a few more dollars.
They are certainly faster though not any
more comfortable, since you will still be
crammed in and they swing around the
bends in a way that can make your head
spin.
Air-conditioned VIP buses (often from
the magnificently named company “King
of Bus”) ply the routes between major
towns. On the long journey from Champasak
to Vientiane, there are many companies
offering sleeper buses with your own
curtained-off bunk. The VIP buses are
best booked through a travel agent or your
hotel. VIP buses vary considerably
between air-conditioned luxury to vehicles
piled high with luggage and added
chaos.
When you are in the mountainous
north, whichever of these options you take
the driver will most likely be issuing all
passengers with a plastic bag or two. That
is because these mountain roads bring
whole new meaning to the words “travel
sick.”
Finally, there is that mainstay of Lao
transport, the songthaeaw. This is a van
with a covered rear with two benches (the
word means “two rows” in Lao) on either
side facing each other. They tend to cover
smaller local journeys, though you certainly
can take them all the way on longer
routes if you are feeling particularly sociable.
By Boat
The river used to be the main means of
transport in Laos. That has changed rapidly
as the whole country progresses to
being sealed and paved, and road transport
has undercut river transport in both
money and time. Yet for tourists who look
forward to the experience of slow river
trips through jungled limestone canyons,
it is a different story. The journey down
from Huay Xai in the north to Pakbeng
remains very popular and a number of
companies run vessels of varying luxury.
You can book a ticket from a travel agent
on the Thai side of the border in Chiang
Khong before you cross, though this is not
recommended because you won’t see what
you are getting. For the normal tourist
boat, you can simply walk through immigration
in Huay Xai and then wander
down to where the boats are moored and
buy a ticket for $20. The trip can be wonderful
unless the boat is too crowded, so
that is something to watch out for. The
boats leave when they have enough passengers
loaded on, and the trip takes about
6 to 8 hours. One tends to leave by about
10am and arrive around 4:30pm. Pakbeng
has transformed from the sleepiest of
backwaters only a decade ago to a place
flooded with tourist money, so people may
be pushy. Boat traffic south of Luang Prabang
is virtually nonexistent. Elsewhere in
the country you can charter your own
boat, but that is expensive and logistically
complicated.
By Motorcycle & Car
Laos offers an experience only one stop
away from nirvana for those who like their
scenery served up on two wheels. Not long
ago most of the country was strictly dirt
bike territory, but now that is ancient history.
These days you can tour most of the
country on a heavy Harley Davidson or a
Triumph Bonneville if you so wish. Most
of the main roads are surfaced and there is
little traffic, although you want to keep a
careful eye out for what there is. The scenery
in northern Laos is unparallel—one
descends from huge mountains into vistas
of limestone karst outcrops that stretch as
far as the eye can see. If this is your cup of
tea, take Rte. 13 from Vang Vieng to
Luang Prabang (p. 252).
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PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO LAOS 10
GETTING THERE & GETTING AROUND