The first trip through Laos started in the northern town of Muang Khua, then took us down the Nam Ou river to Nong Khiaw, through the capital Vientiane and ended with the Thakhek motorbike loop in central Laos. Below is an unedited selection from the Laos photo gallery that we captured during our 27 day trip through this beautiful country. We started in the north east town of Muang Khua and after much negotiating caught a boat down the Nam Ou river to Nong Khiaw. We stopped along the river bank at a small village and found these curious children playing on the river’s mud bank. Our trek in northern…
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How To Say Hello in Laos and our First Impressions of Pakse
Laos is such a chilled out place. It is still relatively friendly as it is a new tourist destination. Not as intense with as Vietnam or Thailand. It’s worth learning how to say hello in Laos, or thank you, as it’s something small that the locals will really appreciate. It’s very handy and it’s always nice to wave and stop to say hello to the locals who are just as intrigued with you as you are with them! How do you say Hello in Laos? Sa Bai Di The easiest way to say hello in Laos is to sound it out slowly. Literally read what is written. Sah. Bye. D. How…
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Beer Lao Company. Our Experience During The Factory Tour
We always thought Vientiane is a cool little city. However there is not a ton of things to do here. So, today we thought, we’d check out the Beer Lao Company and do their factory tour. What does the Beer Lao Company factory tour cost? The price per person to partake in the tour is 40,000 kip. This will certainly not break even the tightest budget! What does the tour entail? Firstly, you get to watch a basic corporate video in their private air-conditioned cinema. The video details the Beer Lao company history, investor statistics and what awards the beer Lao has been awarded. I would call it beer propaganda! It…
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Bangkok to Vientiane by Night Train
We decided to go from Bangkok to Vientiane using the night train which would leave at 8pm, arriving in Nong Khai at 7.30am. You can’t actually buy a direct ticket from Bangers to Vientiane, so you’ll need to go through Nong Khai. Nong Khai is the border town on the Thai side. We took the local bus No. 53 from Samsen St to the train station and bought our tickets the day before. The train station was old but still grand, as all interstate train stations are, and we were approached twice by helpful women with official lanyards around their necks eager to help us. Trust these women as they…
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COPE Rehabilitation Centre – Vientiane, Laos
Cost Free A tuk-tuk will cost about 50,000 kip each way from the centre of the city. We hired a motorbike for 24 hours for 60,000 kip and rode to COPE. What A FREE museum where you can learn about ‘The Secret War’ that America conducted against Laos a few decades ago. You also learn about the type of bombs that still remain in the country, hindering economic progress, and read/watch/listen to stories about people who have lost limbs and livelihoods thanks to these horrible bombs. Where Boulevard Khouvieng, Vientiane, Laos View COPE Visitor Centre in a larger map Comments We first visited COPE in Vientiane a couple of months…
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A Day In Vientiane
We are “stuck” in Vientiane (the world’s second most exciting capital city) for a few days, while we wait for our Thai visas. The timing we chose is a bit less than ideal. Usually the passport with visa can be collected the following day, however we applied on a Friday so we have to wait until Monday. So far, we have enjoyed some great food, Indian and Italian at slightly above budget cost. Today we tried to hire a motorbike to explore the surrounds, which proved a little more difficult than usual. They would not hand over the keys to a bike that barely works without a passport. Both of…
