Laos Travel Forum

Hello Vters,

Thanks for responding to my questions about Laos over the last few months. Finally, i'm heading to Laos tomorrow.

I will arrive at Vientiane's Airport and as soon as i arrive, i will need to go to the bus station and get a ticket to vang vieng. My question is, is there a money changer in AIrport? is the rate good? How much am i expecting to pay for tuktuk to Bus Station? Can i Pay usd? where should i change my money to lao kip? Vientiane or Vang Vieng?

thank you.

Can't remember for sure, but you should be able to exchange money within the airport. I don't know which bus station you're going to but if it's VTE's north bus station, then it's not very far from the airport and I'd recommend walking out from the airport to the mainstreet (only a 5 minute walk) and flagging down a tuk tuk. The North Bus Station is on Tha-deua or T-2 and is only about 5 misnute or less by tuk tuk from the airport so I wouldn't pay more than U$2. Even U$1 should be enough. The hard part will be communicating to the driver were you want to go. Take a look at a VTE map so you can point it out to the driver.

Also, you should be getting better rates in VTE in contrast to Vang Vieng.

hi,

you mean there is no tuk tuk at the arrival hall of the airport? and i have to walk 5 mins to the mainstreet to get a tuktuk? just to confirm.

Ok, i will confirm if Tha-deua is the right bus station. thanks a million.

Also, make sure you change all your Kip back to some other currency before leaving Laos. I once left overland into Vietnam and found all the money-changers too agressive near the border, so I didn't bother, figuring I could change it in Vietnam. I was wrong. I also couldn't change it in Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, or the UK. So now it makes good Monopoly money. No matter how agressive the touts or how bad the rate, change your Kip back before leaving Laos.

THanks for the tips.. i will have a great trip!!

While it's easy to take a tuk-tuk into the airport, it seems they've formed a cartel making it difficult for tuk-tuks to be available for arriving passengers. This way they force travelers to take the U$6 taxis which are way overpriced given that you're not that far from the city. Again, it's very easy just to walk out to the main road, Route 7, and you're not going to have any difficulty flagging down a tuk tuk. To go into town, you have to cross the mainstreet to flag a tuk tuk.

Great Tips, i wil take tuk tuk, as i'm in budget trip!

will update you all once i got back :) thanks.!!

please note that you can easily do Laos with zero kip, you just need small USD notes and then you will get kip for change. The kip is good for buying inexpensive items, paying tuk tuks etc. Enjoy!

I m back from Laos... and it is the most memorable trip i ever had. Thanks everyone

Tell us more!! what did you like/dislike? what would you re-do, again? cheers!

I haven't got time to update my VT tips, because all the bus fare has increased in price. I think i can contribute to benefits other vters.

Laos is a great place with Great people. Food is not too spectacular, but the scenery is. We had fun in caves, rivers, waterfalls, temples, tuktuk, bicycle, boat and bus rides...We met a lot of new frens from all over the world and we re-met them again somewhere in laos. That made us feel like we have lots of frens in laos. It rains when we don't need it to be sunny, and its sunny when we don't want it to rain. We missed a bus to phonsavan but we witnessed some special buddhist ceremony in Wat Xien Thong in Luang Prabang. We ate a lot of Houseflies welcome food, but we didn't suffer from any stomach upset. A lot of tourists suffered from injuiries from the river swing and so on, but we were both safe with no scratches at all.

And out of our surprises, we both gained weight obviously after the trip. I duno how much i weight now, but my sister and mum said my face is so round now. and My beautician said my shoulder is more meaty when she massaging for me. And my partner nvr reach his current weight in his life before. We walked a lot and cycled a lot.. we ate a lot of vege than meat. I think we were just too happy, worry less, stress less, eat on time and over laughed.

I can't go back to laos again because there are still many places i have to visit. But if i were to go back again, i will visit VangVieng and kwangsi water fall again or other waterfalls in laos perhaps.
Cheers!!