The Best of Cambodia & Laos

also plenty of other shops and boutiques worth checking out in this area. Near the southern
side of the market beside the post office is the Ethnic Handicraft Market where one
can find goods from every part of Laos.
The areas of Ban Mixay and Ban Sisaket are situated next to each other west of Talat
Sao, and running through them parallel to each other are the main thoroughfares of
Samsenthai Road and Setthathirath Road and Fa Ngum Road running along the riverfront.
In this area you will find most of the restaurants, hotels, guesthouses, and cybercafes.
A number of side streets connect Samsenthai and Setthathirath roads, the busiest
of which is Pangkham Street ending at Nam Phu Fountain. The northern part of the
city is centered on That Luang. Apart from the temple itself, the main points of interest
for visitors in that district are That Luang Market, the That Luang Dok Mai Plant
Market, and Patuxai Monument.
Wattay International Airport is located 4km (2 1 ⁄2 miles) to the northwest of the city.
The bus station serving the south of Laos is 8km (5 miles) from the center of the city to
the northwest. The bus station serving the north is about 2km (1 1 ⁄4 miles) away in the
same direction. The Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge marking the border with Thailand is
19km (12 miles) to the southeast.
GETTING THERE
For more information on arriving by plane or by train, see p. 35.
BY PLANE Vientiane is Laos’s major international hub for air travel. Wattay Airport
is situated fairly close to the city. If you are coming from anywhere far away you will fly
to Bangkok first and take a connecting flight to Vientiane. (A taxi to town will cost
50,000 kip.. The airlines serving the airport are:
Vietnam Airlines (first floor, Lao Plaza Hotel, Thanon Samsenthai; & 021/217-562;
www.vietnamairlines.com). Open Monday to Friday 8am to noon and 1:30 to 4:30pm,
Saturday 8am to noon.
Lao Airlines (Thanon Pangkham; & 021/512-028; www.laoairlines.com). Open Monday
to Saturday 8am to noon and 1 to 4:30pm.
Thai Airways International (Thanon Luang Prabang; & 021/222-527). Open Monday
to Friday 8am to 5pm, Saturday 8am to noon.
China Eastern Airlines (Thanon Luang Prabang; & 021/212-300; www.china
eastern.com).
BY BUS There are three separate bus stations in Vientiane. The Northern Bus Station
(& 021/260-555) connects Vientiane with northern Laos, China, and Vietnam. The
Southern Bus station (& 021/740-521) is the port of call if you heading in the direction
of Tha Khek, Pakse, or Savannakhet. There is also a bus station at the Morning
Market (& 021/216-507), which is called Talat Sao in Lao, but which is devoted to
local buses around Vientiane province only. There are buses to destinations farther away
(such as Vang Vieng) from Talat Sao, but they are best avoided because they are incredibly
slow and stop frequently. It is best to head for the long-distance buses from either
the Northern or Southern terminals. It is from here that buses also leave to Udon Thani
and Khon Khaen in northeastern Thailand.
Note: If coming from Bangkok, a cheaper alternative to flying directly to Vientiane is
to take an internal flight to Udon Thani 55km (34 miles) away in Thailand and travel
on to Nong Khai by bus crossing into Laos on the Friendship Bridge.
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VIENTIANE ESSENTIALS