I’ll be travelling to Laos next week from the UK. I always like to bring some local currency with me but I’m struggling to find anywhere that sells Loation Kip (from the UK).

Is card widely accepted in Laos? What cash currency should I bring? GBP or USD? I’ll also be travelling to Vietnam, so if Laos accepts VND that would be great.

I’ll be in Vang Vieng & Luang Prabang.

Thanks all!

EDIT; thank you everyone for your responses! I will bring USD to exchange :)

Unfortunately when we entered Laos today, we had to pay a ‘stamp fee’. We didn’t want to make a scene or be held up at the border for hours, but would like to file a complaint after we leave Laos (we don’t want to risk any trouble when leaving). I’ve read 2 articles of border corruption actually being investigated so that’s a good sign. But where exactly can I file the complaint?

Tried esim from Bytesim (Unitel) and Gigago (lao telecom/Unitel), but neither one gives better than 3g - which is unable to load in even a single Whatapp message.

Read lots of posts about people having sweet esim connections in this area. Any tips on providers to download from or settings on iphone 15?

Hi, I'm in Laos and just bought a mobimatter unitel e-sim (linked below) which is supposed to include 15GB of data upon activation. After calling 122 to activate as instructed the phone still has no data access. I asked a local person to help out and they said I need to buy data as the sim doesn't have any data?!! (we dialed *122# to confirm). They then added my number to their plan and added 10,000 kip as a test and voila I got some data! What gives? I've used esim in other countries without any issue.

https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/unitel-laos-15-gb-esim

I'm in Vientiane for 4 days, and I'm wondering if a one- or two-day train trip is doable, or if that'd be too rushed? Any tips?

Hi all- I’ll be visiting Laos in Jan as a solo traveller. Most of my trip will be flying around and all my hotels offer taxis from the airport but my hotel in Vientiane doesn’t seem to. What are my safest options for getting from the station to the city centre? I’ve heard a lot of stories about being dropped in the middle of nowhere and I’m a bit nervous!

Hey, has anyone booked the paramotoring for under 100$ and if so what company did you book it with?

Thanks in advanced☺️

Planning to take a motorcycle in LP in the beginning of January and travel to Nong Khiaw and the area, and then would like to go to Phongsali maybe.

As title says, originally bought a train ticket through 12Go from Luang Prabang to Vientiane 3 days from now. 12Go has not confirmed my tickets, just paid status on my app. I'm traveling to Luang Prabang tomorrow (train tickets confirmed via same 12Go) and was wondering if I should wait for 12Go to confirm my tickets or try my luck when I'm at the train station tomorrow? I'm very afraid of getting stuck at Luang Prabang with no way back. Is there a situation where 12Go fails to secure my ticket?

Edit: Sorry, should be 12Go.asia

Hi! I left my international charger in Don det and I leave from Vientiane on the 22nd. I need one with multiple USB ports and for multiple countries.

I've spent hours walking around Pakse to find one and I can't find one anywhere!!

Any help is appreciated

Hi Dutch guy here, living in Ireland, decided to spent Christmas in Vientiane, why... don't know, but would be nice to meet solo travellers to hang out for drinks and a bite. 23rd-27th of December

My girlfriend is a voice actress, and on the Thursday 2nd of January she'll likely need to record a TV commercial. The exact time can be set later, depending on availability. What she needs is a professional setup, and most of all to be able to live connect with the studio in Madrid, and the client in France. So the use of certain softwares and a steady internet connection is mandatory. Do you know anyone or any studio that could help in Luang Prabang? She has already talked with Malao and Simon Cote.

Hello I am looking for mandarin classes for adults here in Vientiane, any suggestions??

I've started writing and reading for the Laos episode of the anthems podcast. As it nearly always seems the people have a hard to pin down historical footprint. For a random American podcaster anyway.

So can anyone direct me to bio on either Thongdy Sounthonevichit or Sisana Sisane? Thanks folks!

I know it's probably a long shot but does anyone know of any NYE parties in Luang Prabang? Nothing too crazy but just some nice music, people and drinks. I imagine with the midnight curfew and locals not really celebrating it's gonna be difficult to have anything going on till early in the morning but wanted to check anyway.

I read on What are the risks associated with swimming in the Mekong River? (emphasis is mine):

If you are planning to do this at the golden triangle: you need to be a good swimmer: the river is quite wide there. There is also a risk of drifting into Myanmar which is definitely not a great spot to be at the moment. I'm also fairly sure it's forbidden to just jump in the water from any bank of the river by local immigration, but I have no data to back that up, – Hilmar Apr 26 at 15:11

Is it forbidden to jump in the water from any bank of the international river borders by local immigration in the Golden Triangle? (any bank = can be in Laos, Myanmar or Thailand).

Hello, I can’t happen to notice there are lots of Israelis here in Laos. Can someone explain to me why this is the case? Just out of curiosity.

Hello. I am a solo traveler and this will be my first time in Laos. I wil have 6 days and would like to see as much as I can. Is this itinerary is possible?

Day 1 - Luang Prabang arrival - Phousi Hill / night market

Day 2 - Kuang Si Fall - temples - Pak Ou Cave / Mekong sunset

Day 3 - (AM) travel to Nong Khiaw - (PM) hike to one viewpoint for sunset

Day 4 - (AM) travel back to Luang Prabang - (PM) train to Vang Vieng

Day 5 - (AM) bike/hike to viewpoint - (PM) train back to Luang Prabang - or may stay the night (optional)

Day 6 - train/bus back to Luang Prabang (optional) - last day in Luang Prabang - flight to BKK (afternoon)

I booked a room with 8 king beds.

Is it true that people have sex in their dorms at Mad Monkey?

Hello/Bonjour.

I'm Japanese and I studied French in my univ, of which the reserch led me to find the fact that Lao people still pay some respect to their former dominater's language, at least much more than their colonial neighbours(like the vietnamese)

However, when I google how popular it is actually, almost all the results are somewhat propagandistic things backed by the Francophonie Organisation.

How much is the "legacy of the Civilisation" really spoken and/or written in the nation, and then by whom(social class/profession/cultural preference and so on)?

I am wondering if anyone has managed to take a swiss army penknife on the train? It’s not solely a knife so wondering if it may be allowed on the train? Has anyone managed to get one on the train?

It is an expensive penknife so don’t want to have it taken off me.

Thanks in advanced

I am planning to visit Loas tomorrow, I would like to ask what kind of Public transportation they use in Laos Vientiane City and about the Taxi, do they have kinda like Uber or Grab or anything? And any recomended places to visit from vientine might not very far from vientiane.

I am going to Laos in January from Vietnam. Do you recommend keeping Lao Kip or Dong/USD is also accepted

Can anyone recommend the best hostel to meet people on VV

Me and my partner are currently in Chiang Mai and will be here until just after Christmas. We’re wanting to go to Laos for the new year but we’re not sure what it will be like and where the best place to go will be. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Did many research but without a clear result. Plz help me

We are planning to buy a motorbike in vietnam and we would like to cross borders in the north of vietnam to laos, and after that crossing again borders from laos to thailand also in the north. The problem is we do not really have a driving license for motorbikes (125 ccm).

Now we heard that it is not that easy to cross borders and you need apparently a visa before but we are actually not sure what of that is actually the case.

Has anybody recent experiences doing that? And how does it work?

What motorbike should we buy (talking about price-class), because you can buy one for 150$ but idk if that works thaaat well XD.

Thanks a lot for your help Gross bisous und liebe grüße