Laos forum

(Continued)

Day 13: leave Vang Vieng

From there we want to go to Southern laos and 4000 islands as well as see the ruins in Champasak and spend some time in 4000 islands doing some trekking.

How long is it likely to take to get to 4000 islands from Vang Vieng? From what we can see it looks like we would have to take a bus to Vietane, then another bus to Pakse , then another bus to 4000 islands via Champasak. As most of these buses don't run very often it would take a couple of nights at least. Another option would be to fly from Vietane to Pakse but it doesn't seem good value as its only 8-10 hours in VIP bus.

From there we want to cross the border into Cambodia. How long will this take - to get to either Siam Rep or Phnomh Penh?

If its looking like it will be too much travelling to go to Cambodia via southern Laos we might have to skip out 4000 islands etc and either fly from Vietane into Cambodia or go overland via Thailand. What would be the quickest way if we didn't want to fly?

Thanks

amarradia

I'm concerned at your proposed itinerary.

You'll note I'm for doing the slow trip. I find the time spent inside transport vehicles or waiting stations to be expensive, tedious, boring, and most of all mentally & physically taxing.

I am 'concerned' because you appear to be doing too much travelling, and not enough enjoying.

Unlike Europe or elsewhere, where there are a host of must sees, Laos is one of those countries where the appeal lies in just being there and having fun in a relaxed way.

So, I suggest you give yourselves 2 itineraries.

One, as above, where you rush everywhere to see ???, and

Two, an itinerary where you say to yourself OK, let's get ourselves to the Gibbon Experience, then either travel by bus or boat to Luang Prabang . If by boat, that's sort of fixed, but if by bus, we might like to stay more than a night at Luang Nam Tha, we might like to also go to Muang Sing. If we go by bus, when we get to Luang Prabang we might like to take the boat up the mekong River to the Nam River and up to Nong Khai and fossick around there. Then, when we've had enough, we'll go to Vang Vieng. Let's just sort of leave things open, and when we get to a certain day - wherever we are - we'll head for ***** and go to **** (which might be Vientiane to PP by air, or something else).

The reason I suggest the latter is that Laos is so laid back and enjoyable, after a couple of days, you'll also be wanting to be laid back. And, I venture that any 'fixed' plan will probably get ditched, or you'd like to ditch it if you could.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

John (MADMAC)

Hey, you've got a deviant twist!!!

Cheers

Hi and thanks for the replies.

I agree I feel we are going to be rushing around too much. The issue is we have around 3 weeks to see Laos and Cambodia. What would you advise as alternatives? Perhaps fly from vietane into Siam Rep or PP and only do northern Laos? Or cross into Thailand from Vietane and go down to Cambodia from there? The 4000 islands seem pretty appealing but it seems like perhaps too much travelling for too little time there.