After staying few days in Siem Reap - Cambodia, my next destination is Vientiane, the quiet capital city of Laos.
Although flying was a possibility, i preferred to take the on-land option, mostly to enjoy the scenery a little bit.
The ride was a long 14hours in 3 different mini-van to reach Pakse, in South Laos, followed directly by a 6 hours ride in sleeping bus from Pakse to Vientiane. So if you are tight on schedule, highly consider the plane option.
I booked the trip with Asia Van Transfer. They served routes between Cambodia and Laos and have a convenient office location in the center of Siem Reap. The staff was really helpful and the all trip was really smooth. However, do not take their schedule too seriously if you have a fixed connection to take. They claim that the Siem Reap - Pakse route will arrive around 5:30 pm and we arrived in Pakse around 8:30 pm so plan accordingly.
The departure is at 8:00 am at the company office in Siem Reap. The drive is all the way to Stung Treng where we had lunch and changed the van to drive to the Cambodia-Laos border.
The van stops before the Cambodia border and you have to go by foot (with your luggage) to get your visa stamps at the Cambodia exit post. You cross the border by foot and reach the Laos border where you have to sort out your visa and have your passport stamped. The Laos visa is organized on arrival and the price varies according to your country, basically from nothing to 40USD. Another van is waiting for you on the Laos side. It took about 1 hour and a half for all passengers to get the paperwork done and cross the border.
Once in Pakse, you will receive your bus ticket from the AVT staff for the night bus to Vientiane. They bring you to the bus stop. The night bus was really good with real flat bed. The only is.... what looks like a big single bed is actually a double bed that you have to share with a complete stranger. So be prepared ( or book two tickets).
I was able to sleep very well and arrived rested in Vientiane around 7:00am.
Yes, this is for 2 people...
This blog is part of the serie about my Backpacking trip in South East Asia.
Have a look at the other articles: