Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with laos

Help me refine my trip to SE Asia.

hazyspring — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:54:16 -0800

I'm planning a trip to SE Asia for one month. When is the best time to go? How much is it realistic for me to do? Definitely would like to go to Laos and Cambodia. Possibly Vietnam. I just got back from Thailand, and would like to plan a trip to some other countries for next year. I've read some of the other threads, and talked to some backpackers on my trip, and everyone seems to say Laos and Cambodia.

I enjoyed travelling in Thailand during June because it was off-peak, tourist places weren't packed full, and prices were slightly cheaper. It was very hot, and it did rain for about an hour a day, but it didn't bother me too much.

Also, would it be reasonable for me to add Vietnam to this, or is that pushing it? I would like to be able to travel at a moderate place, not moving too quickly from one place to the next.

Where can I get Lao Beer quick?

DetonatedManiac — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:33:56 -0800

Where can I get Beer Lao in or around Raleigh NC in the next 24 hours? My friend's birthday party is this Saturday evening. His is Laotian (but not been there since he was a kid) and likes beer and I heard this story about Lao Beer on NPR this morning. Where can I get some? Also, is it any good? He is a slight beer snob and I don't want to get it as just a novelty but something he would actually enjoy.

What should I do in Beihai, China?

jmmpangaea — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:00:41 -0800

What would you recommend seeing and doing around Beihai in China? I am going to visit my cousin in Beihai, China from Jan 21 - Feb 6th. For the first week we plan on seeing some of the local sights and experiencing the Chinese New Year, but for the second week I'm not quite sure what to do/see. We were thinking of going to Vietnam or Laos, or possibly staying in China and going up to Beijing.

Looking for some ideas and suggestions.

(Also, if anyone has any experience traveling to Beihai from Hong Kong, I'd love to hear about that too. My current plan is to fly out of Shenzen to Beihai.)

Thanks.

One Week In Southeast Asia

bardic — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:11:24 -0800

Where would I have the most fun for one week -- Cambodia? Viet Nam? Or Laos? I'm in the enviable position of living in Asia right now and I need to start thinking about my vacation. It'll probaby be some time in the Spring (April maybe?), and I'd be going for about a week. I'm leaning towards Cambodia, but I'm open to other suggestions.

I would be 1) travelling by myself 2) with a backpack 3) ideally renting a scooter to get around 4) interested in seeing as much local culture and scenic beauty as possible 5) but not averse to doing a little partying as well. Oh, I'm also fine with cheap. I've been to Thailand and stayed in places that would make a lot of Americans have a seizure. Not that I don't like clean and modern, but down and dirty is OK. It's kind of what I'm looking for, actually. Comfortable is always nice though, I'm just not a picky person.

Information regarding visa and/or health requirements (shots) appreciated (I'm a Yank). But honestly, I'd love to hear some people's impressions of vacations in these places.

Oh, and I speak bar and restaurant French. Would that come in handy?

Vietnam: 196x, The VC are creating trouble in Vinh Binh . . . How do I get there?

MasonDixon — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:48:35 -0800

Following up from this question, are there any good historical Atlases of Vietnam? Indochina? The Vietnam War? South Vietnam? The one Atlas on Vietnam at Amazon seems to have mixed reviews.

Is there anything else? My google-fu finds nothing. Combining Google Maps with the online msn encarta one is the best solution I've come up with so far. Flipping back and forth is not not particularly convenient. They are also contemporary maps and I don't fancy reading in front of my computer all the time.

Opening a Guesthouse in Cambodia = Newhart + The Beach?

pokeydonut — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:33:09 -0800

My wife and I want to drop our corporate lives in New York and open a guesthouse in Cambodia for backpackers. Anyone have any experience with this or other crackpot plans? My wife and I have contemplated breaking out of the rat race in various ways, but as we are about to finish paying off her student loans, our discussions are becoming decreasingly hypothetical. Our latest plan, which is actually getting a surprising amount of traction, is opening up a guesthouse/hotel/hostel in Cambodia or Laos. I'd originally planned on Siam Reap, where I went in 2002, but I've heard that it's been ritzed up lately and we might need to find a more under-the-radar locale.

Regardless, the same concerns would apply. Although we're both lawyers and ostensibly smart and hard-working, etc. we have no experience in the hospitality business, no contacts in this region and, last but not least, no abilities to speak in the native tongue. On the upside, we only want to do this for a year or so and we're willing end up $10-20,000 in the red on the whole enterprise so we've got that going for us. We are, however, strenously opposed to being robbed, raped, murdered or thrown into a Laotian prison. Plus there are real concerns like insurance and drug laws and kidnapping and and bribery and Khmer overlords and lawsuits that can't be dismissed with the sheer force of a Carpe Diem attitude.

So has anyone out there ever done something similar to this and do you have any constructive advice on starting a business in a foriegn country?

A book about Indochina, to make my mother happy.

bookish — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:36:58 -0800

My mom wants a book on French Indochina, and I'd like to find a good one for her. Preferably non-fiction, but good fiction with some insight into history and culture would work, too. The exact historical time range is flexible, but she's mostly interested in the area pre-Vietnam War.

southeast asia itinerary help

nyu2 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:22:37 -0800

Which city/cities should I cross off my south east asia itinerary? I will be traveling to South East Asia from 6/9 to 7/7 but am having a difficult time trying to put together an itinerary I am happy with. I have spent hours mulling over which cities to include and which ones to skip given my limited time. The logisitics of traveling from place to place and the varying weather during the wet season also complicates things....I was hoping to get advice on which countries to include/exclude or add/subtract days to.

my tentative itinerary is:

2 days in Ho Chi Mihn City
5 days Easy Riders Bike tour from Dalat to Hoi An
3 days in Hoi An (I've been told hoi an is famous for their tailored clothes and that three days is the minimum days to spend here if you want to get it done)
3 days in Hanoi 2 in Ha long bay
3 days in Luang Prabang
2 days in Vang Vieng
4 days in Chiang Mai (can anyone give advice on whether the hill tribe treks are worth it)
3 days in Bangkok

My original itinerary included a trip to Northern Laos for the Gibbon Experience, a trip to Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao, and a few days in Phenom Phen and Angkor Wat.

Am I foolish for leaving these places out, and what would you suggest in order to fit them in to my current itinerary?

What complicates things:

I was thinking about cutting out Ho Chi Mihn City to even out the time spent in each country, but there is no way to fly directly into Dalat for the Easy Rider Tour and Ho Chi Mihn seems like the easiest entry point. I also have to be going from south to north vietnam in order for the bike tour to work.

We are stretching to see a lot of places, and to save time we are going to have to fly into most of the cities. However, this really limits where we can get to.

some people suggested that Vang Vieng was a tourist trap, but have also heard that the scenery there makes up for it...

I decided to reluctantly cut out Cambodia b/c I have been told the rainy season during June/July is worst than the rest of Southeast Asia.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Winter in Southeast Asia

cgs — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 09:14:15 -0800

Southeast Asia in January + February: too cold/rainy? I'm considering a trip to Thailand, Vietnam and Laos during Janurary and February. While outside the Fall monsoon period, some pages say it is too rainy from the winter typhoons. And how cold is Winter in that region in general?

Any first-hand advice?

Thanks, AskMeFi

Backpacker Nirvana?

0bvious — Mon, 29 May 2006 22:43:58 -0800

Know any good travelling websites? Most specifically for backpacking in Asia... I am going to hit up SE Asia this August, hopefully for a few months, and am looking for some great resources for planning my trip.

A backpackers message board / forum would also be great, specifically one which hooks up lone travellers into potential groups.

Any SE Asia hints in general will be gladly accepted (I am travelling starting in Japan - see previous MeFi-question)

Planning a trip to Asia - help!

gottabefunky — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 11:54:54 -0800

Please help me plan a trip to Asia (Thailand, China, and points in between). I have friends in Beijing and Kunming, China that I'd like to visit next year, and I just won a 5-day cooking class in Chang Mai, Thailand. So I figure, why not connect the dots? I've never been there before, though.

What I think I'd like to do is do the cooking school first, then head across Cambodia (Angkor Wat) and up Vietnam, maybe hit Laos, and cross into China. I assume fly from Kunming to Beijing. (Or else do the whole thing in the opposite direction.)

I'm wondering if this is possible and feasible in a month or less. I'm looking at sometime early next year (before May).

I've done my share of roughing it but I'm not as young or as poor as I used to be. In other words, I'd like to keep it inexpensive, but I'm willing to shell out for a plane ride if it means avoiding 24 hours on a bus.

Can I cross into China from Vietnam/Laos overland? Can I fly into, say, Bangkok from the US and then fly back out of Beijing? Should I worry about bird flu?

What are some out-of-the-way spots along the way that are worth visiting? I dig the unusual/colorful stuff. I also like trains and boats, i.e. local transport, if they're not exercises in patience and discomfort.

Thanks!

How can I make money while traveling for a year?

borkingchikapa — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 11:03:09 -0800

Through rather fortuitous circumstances, it seems I have about a year and a half to do nothing but travel. How can I make money while doing this? [the inside is filled with more] I'll be flying into Bangkok in May of this year, and leaving in September of 2006. The problem is, there's no way I'm going to have enough money to support myself the entire time, though I should have enough for five or six months. How can I make money along the way in places like Thailand, Laos, China, etc? Is it possible to just pick up odd jobs? I'll have a TEFL certificate, but I'm not sure if it's possible to get teaching jobs that only last for a month or so (I don't really want to tie myself down).