When signing up for the 3 day journey from Pai to Luang Prabang (1,700 baht bought from darling's guesthouse) I found darling and the internet quite lacking in details of the journey so here's some timings:
We booked from darling's guesthouse and had a minibus (quite a nice one) pick us up from the reception at 2.30pm.
Arrived in Chiang Mai at 6pm, minibus from there to the border was meant to leave at 7pm, actually left at 8.30pm so was meant to arrive at 11pm, actually arrived at 1am.
Stayed one night in a guesthouse right next to the border, this night's accommodation was included.
Breakfast the next morning (at 7am) was also included, we slept through it, woke up at 7.30 to find most people already outside with bags, there was a bit of bread and jam left but we just opted for the coffee.
Check out was at 8.45am and I think we were pretty prompt in leaving for the border.
Short bus to the border, short boat over the river, 3 forms to fill out on the other end and $35 to pay for the visa (if your a Brit and can pay in US dollars, costs more in Baht and $42 dollars if you're canadian)
Had visas sorted and was in Laos by 10am, no security checkpoints or bag scanning like I would've expected for a border crossing. There was somewhere to change baht into kip at immigration but most places along the border excepted baht, US dollars or kip.
Slow boat left at 11.30 am and doesn't serve food so its advisable to buy supplies for the journey before getting on (it does sell beer but is 20,000 kip on the boat and 10-15,000 if you buy it before hand) don't do what me and Hayley did and stock up on loads of food only to leave it on the pavement and have to buy more.
Was meant to arrive into Pak Ban? (name of place tbc) at 5pm, actually arrived in at around 6.30pm. This night's accommodation was not included in the price of the trip, although we thought it was, and before getting on the boat the tour guide tried to convince us to book a place to stay with him that cost 500 baht for a double room. On arrival there however there are a lot of guesthouse owners trying to convince you to stay with them and although most will start at 300 baht for a double room with free wifi you can usually get them down to 200.
The next day the boat leaves at 9.30am but people were going down from 7am to get good seats so it actually left on time! Guesthouse owners send you off with takeaway breakfast, 3 baguettes goes down nicely.
Meant to arrive into Luang Prabang at 5ish, I think we were less than an hour late, maybe even on time.
Turning right from the boat are a row of guesthouses, most have fixed prices of 150,000 kip for a double room but a few can be got cheaper (we found a basic room for 120,000 for 3 people). All the cheap places with dorm rooms were booked out so if you can, wise to book ahead, and don't do what we did and accidentally book for the wrong night!
All in all the journey was quite jolly, had a few drinks and met lots of fellow travelers. Later that night at the bowling alley (the only place open after 11.30pm) we bumped into a lot of them along with others that we or they had met in Chiang Mai and Pai. Everyone seems to be doing very similar routes so as the journey goes on I think we will pick up more and more friends along the backpacker trail!
We booked from darling's guesthouse and had a minibus (quite a nice one) pick us up from the reception at 2.30pm.
Arrived in Chiang Mai at 6pm, minibus from there to the border was meant to leave at 7pm, actually left at 8.30pm so was meant to arrive at 11pm, actually arrived at 1am.
Stayed one night in a guesthouse right next to the border, this night's accommodation was included.
Breakfast the next morning (at 7am) was also included, we slept through it, woke up at 7.30 to find most people already outside with bags, there was a bit of bread and jam left but we just opted for the coffee.
Check out was at 8.45am and I think we were pretty prompt in leaving for the border.
Short bus to the border, short boat over the river, 3 forms to fill out on the other end and $35 to pay for the visa (if your a Brit and can pay in US dollars, costs more in Baht and $42 dollars if you're canadian)
Had visas sorted and was in Laos by 10am, no security checkpoints or bag scanning like I would've expected for a border crossing. There was somewhere to change baht into kip at immigration but most places along the border excepted baht, US dollars or kip.
Slow boat left at 11.30 am and doesn't serve food so its advisable to buy supplies for the journey before getting on (it does sell beer but is 20,000 kip on the boat and 10-15,000 if you buy it before hand) don't do what me and Hayley did and stock up on loads of food only to leave it on the pavement and have to buy more.
Was meant to arrive into Pak Ban? (name of place tbc) at 5pm, actually arrived in at around 6.30pm. This night's accommodation was not included in the price of the trip, although we thought it was, and before getting on the boat the tour guide tried to convince us to book a place to stay with him that cost 500 baht for a double room. On arrival there however there are a lot of guesthouse owners trying to convince you to stay with them and although most will start at 300 baht for a double room with free wifi you can usually get them down to 200.
The next day the boat leaves at 9.30am but people were going down from 7am to get good seats so it actually left on time! Guesthouse owners send you off with takeaway breakfast, 3 baguettes goes down nicely.
Meant to arrive into Luang Prabang at 5ish, I think we were less than an hour late, maybe even on time.
Turning right from the boat are a row of guesthouses, most have fixed prices of 150,000 kip for a double room but a few can be got cheaper (we found a basic room for 120,000 for 3 people). All the cheap places with dorm rooms were booked out so if you can, wise to book ahead, and don't do what we did and accidentally book for the wrong night!
All in all the journey was quite jolly, had a few drinks and met lots of fellow travelers. Later that night at the bowling alley (the only place open after 11.30pm) we bumped into a lot of them along with others that we or they had met in Chiang Mai and Pai. Everyone seems to be doing very similar routes so as the journey goes on I think we will pick up more and more friends along the backpacker trail!
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