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INTERNAL FLIGHTS
The only airline in Laos is Lao Airlines and operates all domestic and international flights in the country based in the capital Vientiane. Lao Airlines prices are set in US Dollars. With the exception of transactions at the Vientiane and Luang Prabang airline offices, tickets must be paid in USD. They have very affordable prices. As an example, the most popular route between Vientiane and Luang Prabang has a cost of approximately €150 (one way) with the advantage of ensuring in just 40 minutes a journey that, by bus, takes 12 hours or more. At the time this text was created, flights to more remote destinations such as Phongsali, Sam Neua and Sainyabuli were guaranteed by Cessnas with 14 seats and landed on very basic runways, so flights are only guaranteed in ideal weather situations. At least, in recent years, the company has been operating safely.
TRUCK
Laos' roads have seen substantial improvements, yet more than 80% remains unpaved. This is not the case for the main ones, between Vientiane and Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet.
Some private companies have invested in regular routes on the main routes of the country and bought more modern and more comfortable buses which they now classify as VIP. The cost of travel on these buses is roughly €1,50 per 100km. Don't expect real luxury. Passengers are not to be reckoned with, but go prepared for air conditioning eventually regulated as an arctic climate, for music or videos playing at too high volumes.
Another private company by name Stray Travel ensures a route with several stops that can be resumed on successive days.
CAR RENTAL
Most visitors to the country choose to rent vehicles with drivers/guides for €30 to €80 depending on the distance and hardness of the route to be covered. A company based in Vientiane, with extensive experience in this type of rental but also in driverless vehicles is Asia Vehicle Rental.
If you want to drive on your own, expect to find small utilities in rent-a-cars multinationals from Vientiane airport for from €35 per day. These small SUVs are too vulnerable to the country's worst roads, especially during the rainy season or shortly after it ends.
SHIP
The Mekong is the main river axis explored for most of the year (except peak dry season upstream from Luang Prabang) by numerous boats. One of Laos' classic journeys is precisely the two-day descent of the Mekong down from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, with a night spent in Pakbeng. This trip is made in wooden boats and possibly also in hard wooden seats that most passengers try to soften. On a typical day, passengers on board are a mix of backpackers and Lao peasants with their loads and even animals, on their way to villages further down the river or to Luang Prabang.
Some Lao and even foreign travelers choose to reduce the two days of travel on these boats and make the same trip in speedboats (Hey there) that complete the same route Huay Xai – Luang Prabang in just 6 hours, for around €15 per hour of travel that can be shared with 8 other passengers. These infernal boats as a rule Made in thailand they are powered by deafening engines and force larger passengers to remain cramped for hours on end. There have been several accidents caused by logs on the bed, swell of other boats, etc. etc. The Lao government has already threatened to ban them, allegedly for environmental reasons. If it ever took place, this prohibition does not seem to have lasted very long.
For shorter trips, the equivalents to the longtail boat Thai (hah hang nyáo, in lao) are the easiest vessels to charter for around €3,50 per hour of navigation with a maximum capacity of 10 people.
OTHER
Other common vehicles in Laos are the sǎwngthǎew, pick-up vans with adapted covered cabins equipped with side seats that transport passengers face to face, but often not only.
There are still the tuk-tuks and os jumbos both motorbikes with a lush open cabin at the rear. There is an organization in the Vientiane capital that coordinates the prices charged for these vehicles. Try to pay out of capital comparatively less than what the table of this organization indicates: Pricing tuk-tuks, that is about €0,25 for each km traveled that is supposed to be divided by up to 3 passengers, in the worst case, pay €1,50 for trips of up to 5km.