bus trip through loas to viet nam

[charlie1]

i am planning on taking the bus through laos and come out around dong ha viet nam.
then travel south to saigon and take the bus back through cambodia. anybody done anything
like that? travel tips?

[aznyron]

good post I am curious if you have a ticket to Nam do you still have to pay visa fee to Lao since it is not your destination

[747man]

good post I am curious if you have a ticket to Nam do you still have to pay visa fee to Lao since it is not your destination

Ron, I Would'nt imagine so,But don't know 100% ( May be different IF you leave the bus,whilst in Laos !! But I think you would be classed as in Transit IF you did'nt ( Hope They have Hong Nams on them there buses )

[arjay]

Yes, he would have to pay for a Laos visa upon entering Laos. He's not flying with a stoppover and transit lounge facilities.

I doubt there are any buses that go from Thailand right through Laos to Vietnam anyway. He would certainly have to take a series of different buses.

[ting_tong]

travel tips?

Are you one of those low budget backpackers that will stay in a hostel and travels by bus?

street food & diarrhea on a bus does not sound fun

[charlie1]

that is something to keep in mind ting. and yes i can be a budget backpacker.
i'm thinking a bus from vientiane to the border, then dong ha. i'm trying to get info on bus
schedules etc. in laos. .......so i don't get frustrated when i get there.
visa's for viet nam can be gotten at thier consulate in khon kaen. laos has one there too.

[watchoutsnakeman]

I did that trip 6-7years ago, and I'm sure backpacking is easyer now.
busses from Vientiane are overnight busses take your everywhere (every travel shop has them posted)
We did the B.P way on our own, lokal. but the busses are very old and no window so very cold. especily when we got to the moutians lao/viet. (but nice wiew) In viet we came to a town called Vihn - notthing there so on the first overnight south.

If you don't travel Lao and just wonna use it as a traveling country, save the money and time (many hours in busses, overnight) fly from BKK to hanoi. www.airasia.com got pro untill the 18.th jan (buying ticket - travel periode later)

good luck and be safe

[nabanga]

I did this last april. From Vientiane you get a comfy overnight bus to savannakhet, about $15 (don't take the local bus, they stop in every village and take much longer). Then another comfy bus can take you during the day from Savannakhet to Hue, stopping at the border for an hour to process your visa etc.

[charlie1]

that sounds like a plan nabanga. or how about udon to nakhon phanom or mukdahan then across
into laos to sanvannakhet. i think dong ha, lets say the dmv is as far north as i care to go.
there are some places i'd like to re visit. anybody been there done that?

[FrazeeDK]

going to the Mukdahan new bridge and across to Savannakeht is doable and catch your bus from there.. You might also consider stopping at XEPONE on Route 9 in Laos enroute to Vietnam.. It was a Ho Chi Minhn Trail crossroads that was very heavily bombed during the war. There a many guesthouses there and it's worth a day stop.. Rte 9 continues to the border and on towards Danang. All of this is south of the former DMZ.

[Ray.Charles]

Any suggestions on going from Udon to Dalat in Vietnam in a semi-comfrortable way? Did that last year by car to BKK, plane to HCMC, bus to Dalat. Would like to avoid HCMC, very annoying. I am restricted only by my age (62), and a desire for somewhat cleanliness in transport and lodging.

[aznyron]

Ray when I was 60 I was climbing steel and walking walls 40 feet in the air don't make your self out to be old before you get there think young you have a young lady with you now to get back on topic I will go to Vietnam later in the year but I will fly going to HCMC want to check out the cost of living there and to see
if I can handle living in a communist country but reading about bus trip sounds like a fun way to go but my only problem is the toilet can not squat down like the asian people do

[banpaeng]

I am sure you have your reasons for staying below the DMZ and that is your choice.

In my travels around Viet Nam, I liked the north so much better than the south. To me Hanoi is a city to see. From there go to the mountains close to China. A fun trip and a lot to see and do.

Good luck in your travels.

[Ray.Charles]

Ron, I admire your spirit. I will now tell my lady-Thai to shut up if she would ever call me an old man!
From your posts I gather that you have some issues with living in Thailand, we all do.... financial, visa and for me the goddamn Soi dogs. There are no soi dogs in Vietnam. Reason? Yes, you guessed it right. Other than that and the nature aside, I don't have many good travel memories of Vietnam. We travelled by bus (local and tourist), train and boat among HCMC (formerly Saigon), Dalat (a beautiful mountain town surrounding a lake, many times the size of Nong Prajak), Nha Trang (nice beach), Mekong Delta and the Phu Quo island lodged between Vietnam and Thailand. I have also travelled in all the neighbours of Thailand, including Myanmar, plus Indonesia and Singapore. I felt that there was a hard edge in Vietnamese personality that I did not feel anywhere else, certainly not in Thailand, perhaps because of the calming Mai Pen Rai influence of Budhism. Perhaps the Vietnamese are in a rush to get ahead. I do not think that communism would bother you too much as a retired person. In fact , in Vietnam and in all countries of the world today, the only 'ism' that is in control is moneyism.
We can talk more if you would like that when I get back to Udon. Also, the Brit/American expat living in Dalat who showed us around that town may visit Udon in July. You may want to talk to him at that time.
About North vs. South Vietnam, I was told by many that I may find the folks in the North less smiling than the folks of the South; so, I turned around.