Laos forum

Yes I did contradict myself in the earlier message. To clarify I am trying to save time, BUT I am considering not flying Lao air. Thanks for the help

http://www.travelfish.org/feature/50

Thank you very much for the clarification. I would much rather fly to save some time. Thanks.

Without stopping, you can get an overnight bus from Vientiane to Pakse and then leave next morning for Phnom Penh arriving there late afternoon/early evening depending on connections.

Crossing the Lao/Cambodia border is straightforward. See this story for more information.

I'd say it's only worth doing overland if you're planning on breaking the trip up and seeing places along the way.

For flight info, best to check the Lao Airlines website.

Hey Ive just returned from my trip and Laos is spectacular. I booked a flight from Vientiann to Siem Reap through a travel agent. I bought the Bangkok airways discovery pass which gives you three flights for about 500. I was concerned flying Laos airlines but the flight was great. Also to answer an earlier question all flights go through Pakse so if you are flying from Vientianne you wind up making a few flighst in a row: Vientianne-Luang P- Pakse - Siem Reap .

Everything you guys put up is extremely helpful. This site is amazing. I was wondering if anyone had a price quote on the land route. Right now it looks like the only thing is a $150 flight from Siem Reap to Vientianne, but if the land route of overnight bus and such is significantly cheaper, I would prefer to just take that and save some money.

Thanks for your help.

Not the shortest route but we are part way through that route as we speak. We were in Siem Reap last week and are currently in Pakse and will be heading to Vientianne this weekend.

All prices are approximate in USD.

1. Angkor Express Bus from Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - 5hrs, ~$9
2. Phnom Penh Sorya Transport morning Bus from PP to Stung Treng - 10 hours ~$10
3. Minibus from Stung Treng to Cambodia Border, another minibus from Lao side of Border to Don Khone and boat to Don Khone was 3hr trip and all booked on one ticket $15 (u should be able to get this for about $10 we found out later). There were a couple of people going to Pakse and not the 4000 islands. Not sure what they paid but would have been another 2.5hours probably.
4. Don Khone boat then transfer to minibus and on to Pakse 3 hours - $7

We are still in Pakse but I checked today and the overnight sleeping bus is ~$18 to Vientianne

Add it all up and it was about $40 each. You could probably do it cheaper if you did it all on "local" transport but we like a bit of comfort and the local transport would be even longer. All our buses were nice/clean/reliable and the minibuses were only about half full.

This is a long haul and if you aren't planning on stopping anywhere for more than a night then it is probably quicker to go via Thailand to Vientianne.

You also need a Lao Visa ahead of time if crossing via Cambodia but those can be obtained same day (for a $10 "express" fee in PP)

Posted from within Vietnam.

Just wondering- did you book all these tickets through a travel agent or hotel/guest house? Any recommendations on good travel agents in Cambodia? Thanks!