Chiangrai/laos Trip Feb 2011 Writeup‏

[mysticpaki]

1 month in Chiang Rai - Laos


I hope this will guide and enlighten travellers in avoiding hurdles and enjoy a smooth trip in Laos.

After months of research and a big thank you to:

Capt Bob,
Anachak,
Cocodrilo,
Montyman,
Tools 4 fools,
Picek,
Wandering Stray Cat,
Vesna,

for all there valuable advise and once again most of all my thanks to Capt Bob for always replying to my exhaustive list of questions. My thanks to Brigitte who requested me to do a write-up.

I flew Air Asia Bangkok to Chiangrai.

I wasn’t impressed at all with Chiangrai or its surrounding areas and much much prefer Changmai, and Maehongson areas. Chiangrai’s walking street only on Saturdays is very nice similar to Chiangmai’s walking street.

In Chiangrai Ben Guest House was AWFUL and next day I happily checked into nearby Saen Phu Place Hotel 0-537-7300-8 for 700 baht with breakfast, bathtub and the works.

Lao food is disappointing mainly consisting of a soup inferior to the Thai soup, and a minced meat and lemongrass salad called Laap, and this horrible sweet paste wrapped in a lettuce. However I used to try to find Chinese restaurants where the food was great and authentic. I also used to keep my eyes open for barbequed duck and pig.


Transport travel is slower and less comfy then in Thailand. Less cleanliness and hygiene compared to Thailand. People especially in the deep north very poor but polite. In Laos things worth buying are the silk scarves (only from Vientiane and not from touristy Luang Prabong). Buy coffee Arabica and Robust, Green tea, dried meat (jerky), Sweet Pineapple and Tamarind paste all from Pakse.

I took some visiting cards of the places where I stayed or bought something from. For scarf lovers, after many hours of searching found the best shop selling the biggest variety at the cheapest price. Manyvone Khonemyxay Handicraft (856-22) 556647792 2nd floor Morning
Market Shopping Mall Vientiane.

I started in Laos on 1st Feb, 2011 however I would recommend November because it was an uncomfortable damp cold in the extreme north of Laos (couldn’t swim in the river) furthermore the greenery had started to dry up in many places and the burning of crops had commenced.


On 2nd Feb I crossed the river and entered Laos, spent 2 nights in Luangnamtha which is a quiet small sleepy place. Dockchampa Hotel very new for 12 US$ excellent value. The nice thing was hiring a scooter and driving to Muangsing and to the Chinese border in about 2 and half hours which has great scenery. Good barbequed duck in Luangnamtha night market.


Ok let me start with what you should do or what I would do if I did Laos again. (of course you can invite me on this trip just to be your motor bike chauffer hahaha)

I would fly from Bangkok to Luangprabong a lovely little touristy city with a mixture of French and Asian architecture. It’s been declared a World Heritage. Restaurants are all up market here but nothing which I can strongly recommend. The currency is Kip. 1 USD = 8000 KIP so keep a small calculator handy in your pocket.

The highlight in Luangprabong was the guesthouse where I stayed, only 2 years old with loads of wood called Vongprachan Guest House [at]hotmail.com 020-55570055.


The room was as good as any 5 star hotel with wooden floorings, great toilet, well lit with good water pressure. Only funny thing was the basin was in the room and not the toilet. Price 20 usd/150,000 kip per day with aircon, fridge but no breakfast. The owner probably remembers me very well after all how many Pakistanis venture out to Laos. His adorable teenage daughter used to advise me on the map how to reach places and you must make her say the word "delicious" she says it so cutely you can’t even imagine hahahaha. She loves Pizza and one night I left her one which unfortunately got hogged the next morning by her older brother who studies architecture.

Just walk around Luangprabong and chill at this little cute quaint town. I ate a good pizza at a
French place run by a French couple on the river. I went to the night market where I bargained down an Opium Show Piece Pipe to 20 percent from his asking price. I never saw it again in any other city except LuangPrabong and I wanted to buy more as gifts.

TAT SAE waterfall is absolutely gorgeous and has about 7 tiers with walk able steps near Luangprabong. I of course rented a bike but loads of songthews go to it daily so it’s nice to spend a day there.


Another excursion available is to see some crappy place make alcohol with all these ugly reptiles in the bottle so don’t bother taking any other excursion besides the waterfall trip. The other waterfall called KUANG XI also famous is best only during the wet season.

From Luangprabong take the bus going to Nong Kaew about 5 hour ride by bus spend a night or 2 there BUT return to LP by boat for stunning scenery.

Over all lousy dirty accommodation except at “Nong Kiaow Riverside” run by a guy called Eskill (from Denmark) who always carried a peculiar smile.

They have the best location and accommodation and they are also the most expensive $ 55. I had an argument with him because the room had a faulty water heater for shower and I had to take ice cold showers which pissed me off as I paid for comfort .He did give me a good discount but thought I was lying when the water problem was identical the next day so that pissed me off even more as he came on his motorbike whilst I was walking to the pier claiming there’s continuous hot water. He could not accept his mistake of installing a 30 liter heater instead of 80 liters.

The restaurant food in this town is all catered to foreigners so forget having any authentic meal but the Indian restaurant DEANS is great and though I never go to eat Paki or Indian food on a
trip abroad I landed up here for all meals for 2 nights. Tell Dean that Eddie from Karachi Pakistan said hi and tell him to cook for you same as he cooked for me fresh and not for a foreigner. His veg food is quite good especially with the Indian nan, roti and paratha.

After spending 1 or 2 nights here head back to Luangprabong by BOAT. I did not venture further up north river to Muang Noi as understood the place doesn’t have electricity leave alone hot water.


I went to Vanvieng which I do not recommend if you’re not in your 20s. Just a bunch of teenagers from Australia France and UK getting drunk and similar scenery elsewhere.

Go from Luang Prabong to the capital Vientiane either by plane or bus as your budget allows. I didn’t much like the hotel where I stayed called “Sengphachanh Hotel” which had small cockroaches and also some toiletries of mine went missing. The greedy young cute female owner educated in Australia was too damn cheesy and snug for my liking. However the location was right opposite the main Morning market/mall.

I will stay next time in “Souphaphone Hotel” it looked great, bright and new but unfortunately was full.

The Morning markets first floor (not ground floor) has the wholesale shop I found for buying scarves. Don’t buy from any other place as they will charge you much more and this shop had the most variety. The lady did not jack up the prices. I went via motor bike (rented from Lao Travel Co 020-2231222) to Buddha Park full of stone Buddha statues. The highlight of Vientiane is that its clean has a main road similar to Paris (I’ve been told) by a Frenchie and the food is very good.


I went to the National Park but after entering it couldn’t reach any waterfall as the road was too broken and rocky even for an experienced rider like myself.

Excellent dumpling in an authentic Chinese restaurant and wow was the dumpling good so was the Tofu hmmm, my mouth is watering at Chinese- Liao-ning Dumpling Restaurant 00856-21- 240811/020-5939189.


For French food “La Centrale” was great I also ate at “Jomas” which is good and popular in LP and Vientiane. “Istanbul Restaurant” serves excellent Sharma, Hummus and salads.


I ate grilled duck in a rotisserie in the night market somewhere not far off. Duck is cheap and
great in Laos however at times you come across chewy ones. Be careful in food as Lao level of cleanliness and hygiene is nothing compared to the Thai. (don’t even ask me about the Pakistani hygiene haha)

After Vientiane take the night bus and go to Thakek a sleepy little town right next to the river Right opposite is Nakhon Khanom Thailand. I unfortunately stayed at the overpriced Inthira Hotel Sikothabong. I discovered 2 very nice places for accommodation called Mekong Hotel[at]yahoo.com 856-20-555-6040 great big aircon rooms for US$.15/- on the turning and near it a superb Chinese food place probably the best in Thakek as it was always full and served delicious duck, pork and dim sum and the owner spoke fluent English. Another squanky newish 4 star hotel right opposite this super restaurant was Riveria Hotel + 856(0)51-250-000, 251-222-251-333/20- 260-1471 US$.55/-.


Thakek is the place from where everybody rents a bike and goes all the way to the beautiful Konglor cave which is in the mountain for 7 kilometers and has a lovely lagoon.


I would definitely stay at least 1 night here in Konglor as there is accommodation available Sala Hinboun + 856-41-212-445/252-096 Perhaps you can find a tour going from Vientiane to Konglor Cave directly?

In Thakek I had to wait till 5pm for a crappy Chinese bike and spent the night after having a
puncture on the road in a town called Ban Nahin or Ban Viang Khan right next to the road going
towards Konglar. I paid 10 usd for a small spanking clean new room but no hot water and no
basin haha.

Konglor cave and the scenery around it and the drive through the mountains to it is awesome
and one of the highlights of my trip to Laos.


Before I forget Lao beer is superb and half the price of Thai beer so I guzzled at least a bottle a day unless if I was driving.(10,000 kip is 40 baht for a big cold bottle of Lao beer.J

From Thakek take the bus or if you’re not going to Thakek and returning to Vientiane then you can take the night bus directly from Vientiane to Pakse or go by plane. Understand the night bus has proper beds in it and the trip is for 14 hours.(I strongly recommend a trip to Konglor cave)

When I reached Pakse early morning by local bus I couldn’t find any room available in spite of the old man on his motto bike taking me to every hotel/guesthouse in town from cheap to
expensive. In the end he took me to the most expensive big hotel in Pakse and it was like a 5 star hotel called Champasak Grand Hotel. Since I was so tired (having not slept well since 2 nights) I even agreed to myself to pay anything just to take a bath and sleep. Luckily the lady at the reception was half Indian and with my terrorist/raffish appeal I charmed her into giving me a room for which I would still have to wait 1 hour as it was being cleaned. Price usd 52 but wow what a view and a super room. She told me later that I could stay for 5 or 6 nights also. That’s exactly what I did.

It was the last day of a festival at a temple called Wat Pho and that’s why all accommodation was totally full in Pakse with loads of tour buses now departing for Bangkok.


When I visited Wat Poh it was full of rubbish and plastic bags everywhere similar to garbage
dump, a day trip wasted and I'm not into seeing half broken temples. This was at Champasak
which is next to Pakse. It’s a heritage site.

Pakse is my favourite city in Laos because right next to my hotel was the biggest supermarket I saw in Laos and 2 minutes on my scooter I found excellent Chinese and Korean cook yourself restaurant adjacent to each other, both places served awesome authentic Chinese and Korean food at local prices. The 2 Indian food places in Pakse are total crap, so kindly avoid them. The bus I arrived into Pakse on dropped me off at a nice looking hotel which was full called Champasak Palace hotel US$.35/- however where I stayed at Champasak Grand Hotel was
the best and I would stay there again and hell we only live once right

The highlight of Pakse is to go to the Bolaven Plateau which is full of waterfalls. Normally people ride a bike and spend 2 to 3 nights some even 2 weeks before returning to Pakse. Since I had no intention of again packing or checking out of my comfy room I decided to make day trips instead without having to spend a night elsewhere. I hired a good Japanese 125 bike from Lankham Hotel run by a very knowledgeable young man who speaks fluent English, but beware of the old hag behind the counter who’s a greedy witch.

The scenery around Bolaven Plateau is nothing great compared to the Konglor cave drive, as it was end Feb. so the greenery was drying up however the waterfalls are just gorgeous and you can take bus to go to one town to another on the bolaven plateau though I never tried the accommodation.


Day 1. From Pakse to Tadlo to Salavan
1). Saw Tad Paxuan (near resort and has 2 bridges metal and bamboo)

2). Tad Suong (Dry waterfall where the boy took me to the edge of the
waterfall).

3). Tadlo very beautiful next to the resort and restaurant great for swimming.

4). Drive to Salawan not worth it nor the place.

Day 2. From Pakse to Pakson.
1).Tad Itou (saw from top did not venture down).

2). Tad Champee (very peaceful, went on raft to get close to waterfall.
Great for swimming and picnic).

3). Tad Fan (did not see just bought excellent coffee)

4). Tad Yuang (Made photo from top and down in front of the hill and then it
started to rain. Great for swimming).

One day I drove from morning returning in the evening from Bolaven then the other day I started from another point on the map and saw the other side of the bolaven Plateau. These above trips were long and refreshing on a bike. Call me crazy but i even went from Pakse all the way to the 4000 islands Siphandon (the big island) took the bike across the river rode around the island for an hour found it boring with no proper food place came back to mainland then drove for another hour all the way to the biggest waterfall in Asia called Lippi and Khonephapheng close to the Cambodian border then drove back to Pakse. I started at 11am and returned at 8pm.I drove 350 kilometers in 1 day; boy was my ass sore that day haha.

In Pakse Town you should buy dried pork and beef. Its like Jerky called “Sin Han” tasty and the sweet pineapple and tamarind paste/thick jam. From the Tad Fan waterfall you should buy coffee, coffee beans, green tea, and orchid plants.

If you want to buy 3 in 1 instant coffee in sachet then buy the brand called DAO from the supermarket. Very nice for instant coffee.


Pakse has loads of restaurants to eat on the river but I didn’t like the food much maybe i chose the wrong one. They cater mainly for group tours from Bangkok.


The Chinese restaurant place close to my hotel and the self cook Korean hotpot were great called Dom Sokdee Restaurant (856-20)5533558. From Pakse you can either take the bus back to Ubon Ratchathani (Thailand) or fly to Bangkok. Make sure in advance your nationality is given a visa on the border for Thailand unlike the 3 poor Polish guys who couldn’t enter into Thailand via bus.

I went to Ubon Ratchathani from Pakse by bus and again changed buses for Bangkok. You can fly from Pakse to Bangkok Air Asia flies from Ubon to Bangkok or Ubon to Phuket. Since I always shop a lot I kept my return open and travelled by bus as there’s no weight restriction.

Ubon Ratchathani is a big city and I haven’t seen it except for the drive till the bus stop but it has a unique waterfall gushing out from a hole in the rocks located about 3 hours away from the city called Namtok Saeng Chan 1 Kilometer away from Thung Na Muang Waterfall.

If I had to do this trip again i would definitely spend a few nights in Ubon as understand very nice places to eat near the river, shrimps 12 inches long available.

So in a nutshell this is itJJ.

I hope my write-up will help to make your trip more easy and pleasurable.

Trip highlights:-
1. Lao Beer.
2. Chinese Food
3. Tat Se Waterfall
4. Konglor Cave
5. Bolaven Plateau Waterfalls.

Take care and travel safe

Eddie (Mystic Paki)
Skype: mysticpaki61

[harrybarracuda]

Good info - thanks for posting.

[terry57]

A few pictures would of been nice, Hard reading there mate.

[Gerbil]

Before I forget Lao beer is superb and half the price of Thai beer so I guzzled at least a bottle a day unless if I was driving.

Bloody strange definition of 'guzzling' to me. Now if you had said a 'case a day' I would know what you mean.

[somtamslap]

Trip highlights:- 1. Lao Beer. 2. Chinese Food 3. Tat Se Waterfall 4. Konglor Cave 5. Bolaven Plateau Waterfalls.

A man who has his priorities in order..

And the nick is most definitely worth a green..

[Bogon]

Cheers for the write-up pal.

Any chance one of you mods out there can change the OP's font to white?

[Vientianeboy]

Some incorrect and some rather odd information in this post and some good tips.
"Lao food is disappointing" No it is not. Isaan food is actually very similar to Lao food. Lao food is fresher and the dishes mentioned by the op are a small fraction of what is available. Or Lam, for example is a classic dish and is delicious. The Chinese restaurants in Lao are not really good; there are one or two that are ok, but that is it, ok only! I guess if you are not used to good Chinese food you might think they are reasonable. There is some decent Indian food here though, but the best place in Vientiane by far is one not mentioned by the op.
Anyone who buys anything like textiles or clothes in the Morning Market Mall is going to pay far more than those who make a 30 meter trip to your left into the market proper. The Mall is designed for tourists; Lao and expats shop next door where the prices are up to 50% cheaper.

[sunsetter]

No it is not.

yes it is, i wasnt taken on the food in lao either

[somtamslap]

yes it is, i wasnt taken on the food in lao either

Vientianne is full of fresh french bread, pate, gerkins and beer laos dark - I enjoyed a lovely little party in my hotel room before going out to that bar which over looks the Mekhong and getting relentlessly spannered.. Thumbs up from me!

[sunsetter]

fresh french bread, pate, gerkins and beer laos dark

yeah they were good i suppose

getting relentlessly spannered..

didnt expect anything less from you slappers, outstanding work

[mysticpaki]

Have you tried the chinese restaurant i have mentioned in Vientaine? The Dumplings were very good and during communist time i used to go to China quite often.Please do advise other good chinese restaurants.
The 2 Indian restaurants in Pakse on the main road opposite each other were very poor.Perhaps the third one you mentioned has better food??.
Unfortunately for me i only came across the Lao food items ive already mentioned and they were not to my liking.
Thanks

[Vientianeboy]

Have you tried the chinese restaurant i have mentioned in Vientaine? The Dumplings were very good and during communist time i used to go to China quite often.Please do advise other good chinese restaurants.
The 2 Indian restaurants in Pakse on the main road opposite each other were very poor.Perhaps the third one you mentioned has better food??.
Unfortunately for me i only came across the Lao food items ive already mentioned and they were not to my liking.
Thanks

Hi MP, yes I have eaten there a couple of times, but I really was not that impressed. There is a Chinese restaurant in Sihom that is not too bad. The duck is quite good. However Chinese restaurants are nothing what I would consider really good quality. They remind me of suburban restaurants in western cities about 20-30 years ago.
Regarding Lao food. Did you eat at any good places in Vientiane such as Amphone, Tamnak Lao or Kua Lao? Having lived in both Thailand and Lao, I really prefer Lao food.
I haven't eaten at the Indian restaurants in Pakse that you mention. There are a couple of very good Indian restaurants in Vientiane. Did you look up the list of recommended restaurants on a Trip Adviser post before you went to Lao? (There is a very good post on where to eat.)

[mysticpaki]

Thanks Vientaineboy.
Would appreciate if you could give or email me the full list names and addresses of places you enjoy for all kinds of food. Since youve lived in laos you know best.My email is cliche61[at]hotmail.com thankyou

[mysticpaki]

Vientaineboy
The market you mentioned its the one in open air right adjacent to the mall am i right?? I didnt see them selling any scarves only food items keychains biscuits perfumes creams etc. Pls advise

[Marmite the Dog]

"Lao food is disappointing" No it is not. Isaan food is actually very similar to Lao food.

Vientianne is full of fresh french bread, pate, gerkins and beer laos dark

OK. So the Laos food that is like Isaan food is disappointing (fucking inedible more like) and the Laos food that is like European food is quite good.

Sorted.

[Vientianeboy]

Vientaineboy
The market you mentioned its the one in open air right adjacent to the mall am i right?? I didnt see them selling any scarves only food items keychains biscuits perfumes creams etc. Pls advise

No it is not in the open air. It is to the left of the morning market when you stand on Kaysone Phomvihan Street. I think you did not go far enough into the market mp. There are heaps of clothing stores, about 50-60% of mall prices.

[Bettyboo]

I thought that market, cheap as it might be for Laos, was mostly stuff you can easily buy in Bangkok much cheaper; I suspect that most of it comes from Bangkok (obviously not the local products which seemed few and far between when I went there last year) and you thus pay extra for the additional transportation.

Some very nice food in V; some of the best French restaurants you'll find in SE Asia, and at great prices... Lovely street food too, as mentioned above by the Slapper.

I once went with the Thai missus who complained that the food was not as good as the Issan versions, but she would wouldn't she... I never ate much other than French food because it was so nice; difficult to find at reasonable prices in Bangkok. I wouldn't go to Laos for Chinese food... might be some nice Chinese restaurants there, one or two, but hundreds to be found in Bangkok...

Now, beer, as pointed out by Gerbil, "guzzling" is not one bottle a day; what Slapper does is guzzling; well, we suspect he goes some distance beyond guzzling..., but maybe a couple of litres of draft a day is easily justyfied.

Lovely environment for a capital city, lovely beer and great French food at good prices (400-500 baht for a good quality 3 course meal). I love V.

[Vientianeboy]

"I thought that market, cheap as it might be for Laos, was mostly stuff you can easily buy in Bangkok much cheaper; I suspect that most of it comes from Bangkok (obviously not the local products which seemed few and far between when I went there last year) and you thus pay extra for the additional transportation."

A lot of it does come from Thailand and consequently you can get it at Chatuchack cheaper. MP was buying Lao silk scarves however.

[Marmite the Dog]

The Laos come to Nong Khai & Udon all the time. The fuckers are even more ignorant than the Thais, especially when it comes to the mystical white man's magic of driving a car.

[dirtydog]

Isaan and Lao food really doesn't do it for me, I like the Laabs and thats about it, offal and insects are not for me, but Vientiane does have some great Indian restaurants, just like home, ie just like Indian restaurants in the UK No idea what Indian food is like in India but the Vientiane stuff was damn good.

https://teakdoor.com/laos-forum/42405...staurants.html (Vientiane Indian Restaurants)

[Vientianeboy]

"Isaan and Lao food really doesn't do it for me."

What about roast duck, Or Lam, Fish cooked in Banana leaves, BBQ cow, various fish curries? All of that is Lao food as well.

[dirtydog]

various fish curries?

They would be freshwater fish, I don't eat them and I have never eaten a fish curry, roast duck I have eaten once in the last 5 years, would it bother me if I never ate it again, nope, you can stick that Lao Isaan food where the sun don't shine for all I care

[Pol the Pot]

I find Lao food pretty good.

Less of that coconut shit in everything, lots of herbs and other fresh ingredients, sticky rice. Does it for me.

No bombastic overdoing of things and then the whole fucking bowl of soup tastes like coconut. Whether it's green, red, orange or panaeng.

[Vientianeboy]

various fish curries?

They would be freshwater fish, I don't eat them and I have never eaten a fish curry, roast duck I have eaten once in the last 5 years, would it bother me if I never ate it again, nope, you can stick that Lao Isaan food where the sun don't shine for all I care

Are you British by any chance DD?

[dirtydog]

^I'm certainly not some scummy Aussie, nor am I obese so that rules out any green card for me

Fresh water fish have to come from clean running streams and rivers, these fish are called trout, they taste nice, in Thailand and Laos the streams and rivers are full of sediment and mud, this is what Thai and Lao fresh fish taste of, if I want to taste something that tastes of sediment and mud I will eat sediment and mud, if I wanted to taste something that smells like durian I would eat a great big freshly laid turd, but I don't, of course I am British, we don't eat that foreign shite, we eat kebabs and curries for gods sake.