Part of Louang Prabang across the Nam Khan River viewed from Phousi (Sacred Hill) |
The Mekong in this part of Laos |
Going to LP is as easy as requesting your hotel's front desk for an arrangement, almost every single hotel and guesthouse in Vientiane will have this amenity. I booked a sleeper bus for 200,000 Kip. The fare included the van from the hotel to the Northern Bus Station. If I am not mistaken the real cost of the bus-ride alone is 150,000 to 160,000 Kip. The extra 40,000 to 50,000 Kip goes to the van that picks you up, and as commission to both hotel/guesthouse and the "agent" that handles the arrangements. I didn't mind the difference because the van that picked me up was really good and it was on time, plus, all I really had to do was wait for them to give me my ticket.
The first of the many wats I explored in LP - Wat Pa Phoutthabat |
I am a bit on the corpulent side though, and the idea of sharing a bunk in the sleeper bus with another person was beyond my expectation, had I known, I would have insisted on just getting a VIP bus than a sleeper one. From Vientiane to Vang Vieng there were a lot of empty bunks so I just took one. But, at Vang Vieng, the bus took in more passengers, so I ended up having to share the bunk with a Thai tourist. It was a bit uncomfortable, although I only lost a few minutes of sleep because of this discomfort.
A quaint French Colonial-era Mansion along Sisavangvong Road |
The bus ride from Vientiane to Louang Prabang is approximately 12-hrs. We left at around 8:40-pm in Vientiane, and arrived at around 7:50-am in Louang Prabang the next day.
Going to the Town Centre
The bus station is some 5 - 10 minutes away from the town centre of Louang Prabang. In order to get into town, one has to get a songthaew, they will charge you 60,000 Kip, but you can wait for some other passengers and haggle-down the price to 15,000 to 20,000 sharing the cab of course.
Sisavanvong Road, Louang Prabang |
Louang Prabang Accommodation
I stayed in the Louang Prabang Legend Hotel. I booked the hotel through Expedia with a whopping 70% discount! Needless to say I had my best bang-for-the-buck experience here. The hotel also is in a very quite neighbourhood but within walking distance to the town centre, which was most suited to my travelling style.
My bed at the Louang Prabang Legend Hotel |