matan84
longtail driver
Posts: 5

#1 Posted: 4/8/2007 - 17:19


i just read in this website that the northern border crossing between laos and vietnam, "Tay Trang", is still closed. this is a mistake. i HAVE crossed that border into vietnam two weeks ago, without any problem. it has been opened in may 2007.

to get into vietnam, a bus leaves three times a week from muang khua (on the lao side) to dien bien phu (the vietnamese side) at 7am, and costs 40,000 kips.

you CAN NOT issue a vietnamese visa at the border, you will need to do it before hand in luang prabang, vang vieng or vientiane.

to get to laos, a bus leaves three times a week from dien bien phu to muang khua. i don't know the time scheduele or what exact days, nor the price. ask at the bus station. however, you CAN get a lao visa at the border.

hope i helped,

matan, israel

somtam2000
admin
mahout
Posts: 2784

Located in:
Indonesia

#2 Posted: 4/8/2007 - 18:12


Hi Matam,

khop chai lai lai for the report -- we've updated the Border Crossing FAQ to reflect your update.

In thanks we've credited your account with a few of the Travelfish Guides -- Saigon, Phnom Penh and Ko Tao -- I wasn't sure where you're headed, but hope they're useful!

Enjoy Vietnam!

caiuss
newbie
Posts: 3

#3 Posted: 7/9/2007 - 21:40


Hi,

I crossed this border on August, from Vietnam to Laos, and got my Lao visa at the border (36USD, I'm Portuguese).

I would like to add that the bus leaves Dien Bien Phu from the bus station at 05:30 three days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), 53,000 Dong. It took around 10 hours to get to Muang Khua, but it was a very relaxed trip, we stopped 5 ou 6 times.

If the bus leaves Muang Khua at 07:00, it means it leaves on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The bus doesn't cross the river, so it doesn't leave from the bus station, I suppose it leaves from the pier on the opposite side to the town of the river (at least this was where it stopped).

This was probably the nicest bus trip I've ever done. It took around 10h to travel just a bit more than 100Km, so you enjoy the grat landscape.