Laos report

[a447]

I got the info from surfing the net. I also think I might have read it in a guide book - Loney Planet??

[a447]

I got sick while in Laos. While waiting for my flight back to Bangkok for some "fun" I decided to eat at the buffet restaurant in the Vientiane airport. Next morning in Bangkok I woke up with stomach problems - felt really ill. I took Imodium but could not really enjoy the nightlife very much. Although I offed guys for long time, it ended up being short time.
When I returned home, I was talking to a friend who had also been in Laos. She, in fact, recommended that i go there. She also got sick, and guess where! At the restaurant in the airport!!!

So, whatever you do, stay away!

Hi,

I am going nowhere at the minute due to a broken foot acquired whilst getting out of one of those silly Laos tuk tuks that just aren't made for Europeans!

[thonglor55]

I am going nowhere at the minute due to a broken foot acquired whilst getting out of one of those silly Laos tuk tuks that just aren't made for Europeans!

I hate them too! You have my sympathy.

Hi,

I am in Lao now checking on multi entry visas and other bits for this Country, it is a great place to be and to hang out in my opinion.

Anyone wants anything doing or checking, send a message!

Also, The AV Hotel is great. Centrally located for everything. Huge room, great wi fi signal, LCD TV, big comfortable bed, new linen, recently refurbished.

No lift or swimming pool being the drawbacks against Chanthapanya Hotel. I much prefer the rooms here though. Staff cuter at Chanthapanya as well but you can't have everything. This is for $35 per night including breakfast which I can't comment on as I have never made it yet.

I would definitely say if anyone is in town on budget or longer stay, this place is adequate.

If you want to pamper yourself in a smaller hotel but classy at around $80 a night, it's got to be Salana Hotel.

Brad the Impala and I may have been in Vientiane around the same time. We used to call Patuxai Arch the Vertical Runway. attachment=0]Vientiane.jpg[/attachment]

Hi,

The Lao themselves are not overly impressed with it either!

The thing was left unfinished and the area beside and around it is now used for recreation and relaxing.

[lonelywombat]

Received a PM from a student at uni who found these tours when searching for gay tours. Afraid it looks a bit too rugged for me , offing a boy and have sex in that boat is scary.

Gecko is new to me and their website does not suggest they are gay The member is considering one of the trips see on the side, under the heading our favourite trips.

http://www.geckosadventures.com/south-e ... -laos-2008

On checking the 14 day trip, they seem to leave every 7 days

here is the points visited .It starts and finishes in Bangkok

14 days from AU $1,295 pp twin share

After years of war, peace and tranquillity have come to Laos and this small landlocked nation is slowly opening its doors and offering the intrepid traveller a warm welcome. We travel by a wide variety of local transport including bus, songthaew, tuk-tuk, Mekong riverboat, mini-van, train and pirogue (narrow canoe). Accommodation is in simple hotels and guesthouses.

From Bangkok we travel north to the mighty Mekong River and cross into Laos. Crossing the river is like stepping back in time to old South East Asia. Following the river we visit the beautiful town of Luang Prabang and then continue to Vang Vieng and the sleepy capital of Vientiane. Crossing the International Friendship Bridge we re-enter Thailand and take the overnight sleeper train back to Bangkok.

1-2 Bangkok
3 Chiang Mai
4 Huay Xai
5 Mekong River - Pakbeng
6-8 Luang Prabang
9-10 Vang Vieng
11-12 Vientiane
13-14 Bangkok

[Beachlover]

Lonely, as you said, Geckos Adventures has nothing to do with being gay. It's one of a group of global "adventure travel" companies, which I know fairly well as I enjoy outdoor stuff.

There's a few categories catering to different market segments...

1. Premium high-end adventure travel is done by World Expeditions and Peregrine Adventures. They tend to offer higher service and more expensive options. Most customers will be 40s and upwards. Their trips aren't cheap but they don't stick you in cheap places or use cheap transport options.

2. In the mid-market you have Intrepid, which seems to cater to 20s-40s. They're not the cheapest but they offer a fairly "premium" service.

3. At the bottom of the market, price wise, you have GAP Adventures and Geckos, which is owned by Peregrine. These guys tend to be the cheapest and most customers tend to be your 18-35 crowd. Accommodation is usually budget or mid-tier. They usually use local guides, local transport options (e.g. take a public bus/train instead of hiring a luxury coach to get you from A to B) and the trips are fairly flexible and adventurous.

You also have Contiki but I'm not sure if they qualify for the "adventure travel" segment. I wouldn't use them.

I only use these companies if I'm doing something, which requires specialist equipment/guidance (e.g. mountaineering or kayaking) or for going somewhere seriously remote where a guide with experience and safety in numbers is a must.

I tend to use the third group of operators (which includes Geckos), not because of price or service offering but because the crowd tends to be young like me, lots of fun to travel with and more lively. They only use local guides everything is locally organised.

For your uni friend... I'd suggest unless it's ok to use Geckos but he should find his own way around too. Don't use them for the entire portion of his trip. In fact, for most of the stuff mentioned in the trip you posted, there's no reason he can't find his own way around. There's nothing particularly off road or remote there.

[pong]

Further to BL-and thanks to him for the unravelling of those companies:
they now also have an office in BKK-Viengtai HTL, near Khao Sarn.
I once spoke to a guide of those tours with a beer or 2-and he told me, nearly half of the subscribers skip somewhere during the cheap Gecko/intrepid tours as they find it more adventurous and discover that in Thaild/Lao etc it soooooooooo easy to do on your own, even for nervous 1st time types.
There is also STRAY adventures, offering moreorless same-same, and also all types of bike tours around and in BKK-brand new ofice on Ratchdamnern, also close to Khao Sarn. I thuink this is NZ. They run own minibuses in Laos between major tourist places, like they do in NZ.