Laos forum

We did it by local bus to Sam Neua (15 hours), stay over night followed by a minivan and coach to Hanoi via Thanh Hoa (15 hours) near the end of December. I can give you more details if you want.

Cheers.

Well, if it's the quickest way from Luang Prabang to Ha Noi that you want, flying is certainly it. It's a one hour flight.

I've flown Lao Airlines a couple of times and found them to be quite safe, with fairly new equipment (not the old, crash-prone Chinese airplanes) and good service. I believe, if you do some searching around this website, you will find others who have had good experiences with Lao Airlines. Just make sure, if booking or searching for flights on-line, that you go to this website http://www.laoairlines.com/indexb.php as there are others, purporting to be "official" but aren't.

As to the cost of flying, it's been my experience that flights between countries in SE Asia can be pretty pricey, whereas flights within those same countries can be amazingly inexpensive.

On the other hand, if you want to see the countryside of northeastern Lao and northwestern Viet Nam, bus/van/etc. is the only way to do it.

Happy travels!

Private car/driver would cost hundreds of Euro and be hard to arrange. The Lao Airlines (or Vietnam Airlines) flight is well worth the cost. Safe airline(s) and just takes an hour. Beats the heck outta the really long crappy road journey. I've been living/travelling the region for years and this is the one section I can say without a doubt - pay for the flight!!!

Hi Asia2010

We crossed at Na Mae/Nam Xoi on 27/12/09. We caught a public bus from Luang Prabang to Sam Neua for 145,000K on 26/12/09 leaving LP at 8:30am and eventually arriving in SN at 10:30pm. It was an entertaining journey; lots of locals getting on and off with motorbikes, computers, office furniture, groceries, live animals and an AK47, with great views in the National Park towards the end (before it got too dark). It's worth trying to book ahead for a room in SN - all the best guesthouses were full but got a basic double room with bathroom (?) with some hot running water (shower Laos style with a saucepan!) and a rock hard bed for USD5.

There is a Vietnamese quarter in SN close to the centre of town. Managed to catch a minivan at 8am on the 27th Dec 09 which, we were told, arrived in Hanoi at 8pm. This cost us USD35 each - probably on the steep side but not drastic. We already had Vietnam visas so the crossing at Na Mae/Nam Xoi was easy but the roads were winding and long. Crossed the border before lunch (great views on the Laos side) but then had a long journey down from the mountains to the coast. Eventually arrived in Thanh Hoa at 8pm. Swapped buses to a big sleeper here and arrived in Hanoi at 11pm. Easy to do and not a horror story (although these were two consecutive days of 14+ hours on buses!).

Enjoy your travelling, however you do it!

Or be thoroughly sedated prior to boarding.

Just about to take the same trip. Chang Mia - Hanoi overland. Flying was looking a little pricey as I have left it a little late but im going with the mantra Sucess is a journey not a destination.

Anyone with any tips or hints would be much appreciated.

Asia2010: Yeah, Lao Airline is just fine these days, but flights between countries in SE Asia are really quite expensive for the distances flown. I think going overland is a grand idea, especially if you can break it up with a couple of stops en route as you mentioned (two 15-hour bus days one after the other doesn't sound too appealing to me). I wish to make that trip myself one of these times.

Personally, if it were me, I would go south to Savankhet, spend a few days there, then go across to Hue and then slowly head north. If you don't have time for that, then just fly. All I've heard about the bus from Laos to Vietnam up north is long and painful.