Aircraft
Vientiane Wattai International Airport ( Wattay International Airport , VTE) is 3.5 km west of the city. You can get from the airport to the city by taxi with a fixed fare - $ 7 or 56,000 boiled, or on a minibus for $ 8 or 64,000 boiled. You can get from the city from the airport in different ways: for example, to bargain with the drivers of the Tuk-Tuka, although the initial prices that drivers are called, about the same - $ 7-8.
At this airport, planes of several international carriers are launched, including the National Airlines. Lao Airlines. , as well as Airasia, Thai, China Eastern and Vietnam Airlines . From Moscow will have to fly, most likely with transfers to Hanoi, Bangkok, Doha or other cities. Flights Naos are not cheap to Laos, and therefore the most popular way to save money is to buy a ticket to Udon Thani and from there to cross the border on land. Numerous and cheap flights serviced by the airline are performed from Bangkok to Udon-Thani Nok Air, Thai Smile, Bangkok Airways and Thai Airasia . So, if you have a lot of time, and you do not mind shaking a little with tickets and transplants, you can save a lot of money! For example, a one-end ticket from Bangkok to Udon on Thai Smile can cost only $ 35, including all taxes and luggage fees. At the same time, the ticket from Bangkok in Vientiane on Lao Airlines costs about $ 175!
Internal airplants include LuangPrabang, Luannamtha, Huaysai, Sienkhuang, Udomhya, Pakse and Savannakhet. By the way, do not forget that flights of Lao Skyway and Lao Central Airlines appear, then disappear - there is no confidence in them! And yes, if you want to explore the remote corners of the country, then the internal flights can save a lot of suffering and strength from travel on local buses. In every city, inside the country, aircraft fly at least once a day (in LuangPrabang several times), although sometimes the flights are canceled if there is no sufficient number of passengers.
The Internet is booked on the airline website http://www.laoairlines.com, but sometimes, if you contact this issue to the local travel agent, you can get a cheaper ticket. Tickets from Vietnam Airlines can be booking personally in their sales office (in the Lao Plaza Hotel on Samsenthai Rd, and only cash), especially if connecting flights are required.
A train
In 2009, roads were laid across the Mekong River, so now you can just just drive from Thailand to Laos by train - just three kilometers! From Nonghai (Thailand) You can take a shuttle train through Mekong, which will bring you to Ban Tanaleng station, where you can get a visa upon arrival. But this Ban Tanaleng is "In The Middle of Nowhere", which means that the last 20 kilometers to Vientiane will have to get on Tuk-Tuka, if it is still possible to quickly find it. And you can also send this train and transfer, and from Nonghai to get yourself to the checkpoint to cross the border. Shuttle train from Ban Tanalenga in Nonghai goes at 09:50 and 17:00. If you did not have time, in any case, I am very simple to get to the Nonghaya station.
Train-express in Bangkok It starts at 19:10, will arrive there at 06:00 the next morning (although it is usually much later). Place on the tough seat costs 300 baht, on the soft seat - 450 baht. Given the fact that the journey takes more than 13 hours, it is better to spend and take a more comfortable place, better "lying", for 600 baht with a fan, for 700 baht with air conditioning on the top shelf, for 800 baht with air conditioning and on the bottom shelf or 1320 BAT with air conditioning at first class places.
Booking tickets for the train is possible through the Agency to Vientiane-Poss, in this case you have to throw a bit, but then you will be transferred from your hotel to the border, and sometimes all the way to the station Nonghai.
Buses
The land trip to Laos is not very simple, I'll tell you. But, if that, in Vientiane, there are three stations: the central bus station, the Northern bus station and the South Bus Station.Central Bus Station (It is also called Khou Din or Talat SAO stations) is located next to the morning market. From here you can leave in Nonghai, Udon-Thani and Hon Kaen in the north of Thailand, as well as in Pakse, Thahak, Atapau, Casi and other cities. North Bus Station It is 8 km north-west of the city center, and from here they drive mainly in LuangPraban and in all the northern directions, as well as in the south cities of China. South Bus Station (DONG DOK) is the main point for all directions in South Laos and international buses from and in Vietnam and Cambodia. This station is located 11 km north of the city center, on Kaysone Phomvihane Avenue.
Moving in the city
You can move on Vientane on foot or by bike, which is less pleasant today than it was just a few years ago. The small capital is experiencing the disease of the rapid growth, and the infrastructure for the most part old. The number of vehicles is growing in geometric progression: motorcycles, passenger and trucks ... So, the roads become a real headache, not to mention parking.
And yet, cycling and walking - the best options. Fortunately, people still go to Laos slowly. If you are riding a bike, you wave your hands when you turn it: Local residents do not understand formal cycling signals. Pedestrians are considered the lowest form of life, and they must constantly overcome the heaps of parked cars and beware of dangerous holes on the pavement.
Tuk Tuki Today is not the most popular type of transport, and the drivers are experiencing difficult times, therefore, probably, they strongly inflate prices for tourists. Especially in the tourist center along the Setthathirate and next to the fountain of us Poow. Therefore, it is best to try to find a Tuk-Tuk outside the city center. Fair price for a trip within the city - 20,000 boiled or 50,000 boys for every 10 km.
Thanks to the Government of Japan, in Vientiane today there are excellent green and white buses With air conditioners that ride throughout the city. They depart from the central bus station, and you can smell your hand almost anywhere and just jump inside. You need to pay the driver or the conductor, the fare ranges from 2000 to 6000 kip. The most important routes for travelers provide Bus number 14. (on Thadeua Rd to the bridge of friendship and Buddha Park) and By bus number 29 (to the southern bus station).
And you can rent a car, for example, in AVIS / Asia Vehicle Rental Co On Setthathirath RD, Ban Haysoke. Motobikes and bicycles can be rented in many guest houses and hotels: normal for 10,000 kip, mountain - for 20,000 kip, motorbikes of Z70000 Kip, Yamaha or Honda - 80,000 boiled, off-road bike - 250,000 kip. For renting motorbikes require a passport as a deposit. You can also rent in "Francois Ngin" At the corner with the FA NGUM next to Cafe Sinouk.