Thailand to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia & Back - OVERLAND

Hi All,

My friend %26amp; I will be going to Thailand in late October. We plan on spending about 3 weeks on the islands (Samui,Phangan etc) and then heading up to Chang Mai for a week.

From here we plan to go by Train or Bus (??) to Laos, then to Vietnam and then on to Cambodia. From Cambodia we will probably fly back to Bangkok. We plan to take around 4 weeks doing this...

When we get back into Thailand - we want to stay there for another 2 weeks, so should we apply for a 60 day VISA on our initial entry or just get another 30 day VISA upon our 2nd entry??

Can anyone please let me know what would be the best way to do this (train/bus/flights etc) and also VISA recommendations for each country??

Also,if anyone knows of any tours that do this?

Thanks!

Thailand to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia %26amp; Back - OVERLAND

There%26#39;s no train option from CM to Laos.

If you fly back INTO Thailand for the last leg of your trip, you%26#39;ll get another 30 day visa exemption (but only 15 days if you come back into Thailand - overland).

It might pay to get your Vietnam visa here before you leave (about $70) or you can get it while you%26#39;re in Thailand easily enough.

Take a look at this website for further helpful info;

http://talesofasia.com/cambodia-overland.htm

...and perhaps grab yourself a copy of LP%26#39;s ';South East Asia on a shoestring';;

http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/Primary/Product/Destination_Guides/Shoestring/PRD_PRD_2080/Southeast+Asia+on+a+Shoestring.jsp?ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181057%26amp;FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025816%26amp;PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441763121%26amp;bmUID=1237080921784%26amp;lpaffil=lpcomsearch-shoplinks

Thailand to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia %26amp; Back - OVERLAND

From CM take a bus to Udon Thani or to Nong Khai and head into Lao that way. from Udon and NK you can take a bus to the Friendship Bridge and get a tuk tuk to Vientiane.

There are plenty of ATMs in Vientiane and Luang prabang now, but none in remote areas, of course.

If you are going from Chiang Mai I think you would be better heading to the border crossing at Chiang Khong, Huay Xui then following the backpacker route downstream to Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng then Vientiane ... from there fly direct to Hanoi and do your Vietnam tour... heading south... cross over into Cambodia and do at least Phnom Penh and Siem Reap... I would do SR first then PP and fly air asia back to Bangkok getting your free 30 day visa...

To be honest you will be struggling to do it all in 4 weeks without being rushed.. we are trying to squeeze Vietnam into 3 weeks at the moment and really struggling.. we did a tour of Laos last year in 2 weeks and that was a struggle!! Cambodia needs a minimum 5 days for the two places mentioned..

If my calculations are right and you have 10 weeks to play with you might be better organising your time differently.. If I have 10 weeks I would spend 2 weeks in Lao, minimum 3 weeks doing Vietnam, 1 week in Cambodia and 4 weeks in Thailand!

A great website with lots of itineraries and interesting stories is www.travelfish.org (highly recommended)

You can also browse my blogs on Thailand, Cambodia and Laos here : www.travelblog.org/bloggers/reet

A good tour company is Intrepid.. they specialise in good cheap tours of all regions... it might be worth looking into those.

Visas

Thailand - free upon arrival (30 days on flight, 15 days overland)

Cambodia - available at border ($25 USD.. take the correct amount so they dont try to scam you.. 30 days from memory)

Laos - available at border ($20 US from memory 14 days I think)

Vietnam - $70 get in Bangkok or from Embassy at home prior to leaving.

Feel free to ask any questions or contact me privately!

Reet

Oops some corrections to the Visa information (and apologies)

Just looked in my passport.. we paid $20 USD for the Cambodian one and it was 30 days

For Laos, it didnt have a price but it was around $20-30 from memory and we actually got 30 days.

Sorry about that!

The above poster has given incorrect information. A visa to Laos is $37.00 US. That will give you 30 days. This is obtainable on arrival.

Also I would avoid Vang Vieng. The karst landscapes are beautiful, but the place is full of objectionable drunken and loutish backpackers, many of whom disrespect Lao culture. You would be better off flying from Luang Prabang to Vientiane.