Lao international busses are not customer service oriented, they are focused on transporting as many passengers and cargo in one trip as possible. My second time riding the bus from Laos to Vietnam proved to be *slightly* more pleasant than my first (with Preston in 2005). At 6:30 AM in Phonsavan, Laos, thirty-five [...]

There are few options when traveling from Northern Thailand into Laos. When the road is functioning and the weather good, a bumpy mini-bus is feasible, but most opt for a boat trip down the Mekong.
It really isn’t very far to Luang Prabang and two types of boats make the journey. Death-defying speedboats fly [...]