Bed Bus - Vientiane - Pakse

[ch1ldofthemoon]

Christmas day,I arrived in Vientiene from Vang Vien and booked into the Hotel Lao. I dont know what I paid for the room,as it was part of a package deal.Central location is the only good thing about the place,rooms were `grubby`.

Boxing day,myself and a mate nipped down to the Cambodian embassy to get visa`s for crossing from Laos to Cambodia,for 3 europeans and one Thai. Although the falangs got a full page visa,the Thai only got a stamp...but we all paid the same,$35 I think?

Picked up passports at 1600 and made our way to bus station,cost $8 by tuk tuk.
Paid $16 for ticket to Pakse on bed bus.











Had a nice double bed for me and the gf. 12 hour journey,with a stop halfway for something to eat.
Slept most of the way,very easy journey.Would definately travel this way,in the future,if available. Shame they dont have this in LOS.

[Aquaman]

i saw those in Pakse. looks like a good Lao travel option.
did you go down to the islands in champusak.

[ch1ldofthemoon]

We negotiated a private mini van to take five of us to Khong Island.Sorry,I cant remember how much we paid. We stayed at Mr Pons hotel.
If you like solitude,very little to do except get drunk on Lao Lao ($1 a litre) and looking at bit`s of greenery,masquerading as one of the 4,000 islands,then this is the place for you.
Paid $4 to go look at a local waterfall....the river jumping over some big rocks,is what I would have called it.
Another day we went to look at the Irrawaddy Dolphins,think it was $5,plus an extra $1 because the boat your in crosses into Cambodian waters.Spent about an hour watching for dolphins,before getting the briefest of glimpses of them....but,what the hell,there`s bugger all else to do except get drunk or stoned.

[rawlins]

Do you get 'bed belts' for those occasions when the bus might tumble down a ravine or have a head on collision with a cement truck?....

[ch1ldofthemoon]

Do you get 'bed belts' for those occasions when the bus might tumble down a ravine or have a head on collision with a cement truck?....

you get the same belts as they have on most thai buses....bugger all.

[sabang]

They have these in China too, took one with the ex Mrs from Kunming to Dali in Yunnan province. A bit sobering seeing the wrecks scattered at regular intervals down ravines or just by the road.

Nice way to travel though.

[MeMock]

Any links for this service? Chasing departure times for the bus as well as pick up points.

[ch1ldofthemoon]

we got the bus from Vientiene bus station,same place the VIP bus leaves from. Dont know about schedules,we just turned up and bought a ticket,bus left about 7pm....

[SunTzu]

just took that bus last week :

- company = chitprasong (a friend advised me)
- ticket for 150 000 Kips, and they pick you up at your guest house, around 19:00. Some guesthouses will want to sell you the very same trip for up to 190 000 kips, sometimes arguing they'll provide a 'dinner'. In fact, just the same service.


up

to the back
to the front



I liked the "chalet" look.

Just didn't agree too much with how friendly my vietnamese neighbor was.... For total comfort, book 2 (adjacent) seats !

[MeMock]

My brother got picked up half way along the route (he booked in advance) and ended up in quite a argument as the space reserved for him was next to a bloke who was not told about an extra passenger coming on board and obviously assumed he had a double bed for himself.

[mysticpaki]

im a bit confused.Does this bed bus run in Laos or in Cambodia?
If in Laos whats the route??

[MeMock]

What does the title of this thread say?

[Pol the Pot]

The sleeper bus runs from Vientiane to Pakse.

No reason to get a visa for Cambodia in advance. You get a VOA at the border.

[ch1ldofthemoon]

when i crossed over from laos to cambodia,you had to have your visa already. you could`nt get one at the border. this was december 2007.

[Pol the Pot]

Then they BS'd you.

VOA available at Dong Kralor et least since June 2006.

[ch1ldofthemoon]

^
Not disputing you,we were told no visa to be had at the border.
It was no big deal,we dropped our passports into the cambodian embassy,in vientienne on christmas morning,about 10-ish,got them back at 3pm. I cant remember how much we paid. Got the bed bus that evening.
Dont know the name of the border crossing,it was just a small wooden hut,in the middle of the jungle. We travelled by minibus from the `islands`for a couple of hours on main roads, then for about an hour down some dirt track,got our passports stamped at the hut,walked about 300 metres across this mud patch to another small wooden hut,which was cambodian immigration.the other side of the hut was a brand new road,leading to stung treng.

[Pol the Pot]

^
Not disputing you,we were told no visa to be had at the border.
It was no big deal,we dropped our passports into the cambodian embassy,in vientienne on christmas morning,about 10-ish,got them back at 3pm. I cant remember how much we paid. Got the bed bus that evening.
Dont know the name of the border crossing,it was just a small wooden hut,in the middle of the jungle. We travelled by minibus from the `islands`for a couple of hours on main roads, then for about an hour down some dirt track,got our passports stamped at the hut,walked about 300 metres across this mud patch to another small wooden hut,which was cambodian immigration.the other side of the hut was a brand new road,leading to stung treng.

That's changed. The crossing used to be at Voen Kham/ Dong Kralor. A nice little jungle post.

Got moved sometime in early 2009, 6km north. It's now on the main road.

VOA abvailable on both sides.

[ch1ldofthemoon]

^ thanx for the info.