8-day, 7-night backpacking trip through Laos and Thailand by bus.

Thùy Trang is a content creator who embraces a digital nomad lifestyle. Recently, Trang completed a backpacking trip across Laos and Thailand, traveling solely by bus. Speaking to Travellive, Trang explained that to celebrate her birthday, she and a close friend left Da Nang for Hanoi early in the morning. In the evening, the two friends immediately boarded a bus to Laos without a specific itinerary.

"I feel that Laos is so peaceful and beautiful right now. Laos deserves, truly deserves to be a tranquil and peaceful place we can visit during a dreamy autumn like this," Trang shared.

From Vietnam to Laos

Thùy Trang traveled to Laos in early October. This is the rainy season in Laos, with temperatures around 29 degrees Celsius. To save money, the content creator took a sleeper bus from the Nuoc Ngam bus station. Buses run daily, with either Lao or Vietnamese license plates.

The bus usually departs from the station at 6 PM and arrives in Vientiane around 4-5 PM the following day. At 2 PM each day, travelers can call to inquire about information and book tickets in advance, costing around 800,000 VND. Currently, the bus company handles all Vietnam-Laos immigration procedures; passengers only need to present their passports when registering to buy tickets.

At 7 am the next day, the vehicle will take you to the Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh province). After completing the procedures, you will cross the border to Nam Phao (Laos). At the Cau Treo general store area, there are places to buy SIM cards and exchange money; you can spend 70,000 VND for a SIM card and top-up card. Upon arriving at the Vientiane bus station, you can take a tuk-tuk or hire a Vietnamese taxi to the city center, which is about 12 km away.

The very next day, Thuy Trang took a train to Luang Prabang on the China-Laos high-speed railway. Currently, this railway line stretches 422 km to six stations in Laos, including Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Muang Xay, Luang Namtha, and Boten, with speeds of 120-160 km/h. The Laos-China Railway (LCR) has both high-speed and regular trains.

"There are only 3 trains a day from Vientiane to Luang Prabang: 7:30 AM (C82), 3:05 PM (C84), and 8:00 AM (K12). So if you arrive in Vientiane at 5 PM, you won't have time to catch the high-speed train. We need to book a room for one night in Vientiane and then go to the train station very early the next morning to book tickets 1-2 hours in advance, because there are so many Thais and Chinese coming here that tickets sell out very quickly," Thuy Trang said.

Furthermore, train tickets cannot be booked by others as you must bring your passport to register yourself. Tickets are only available two days in advance, so as soon as you arrive at a station, you need to book your next leg of the journey immediately to avoid tickets selling out. Importantly, all train stations have shuttle buses to the city center; tourists just need to take the elevator to the parking area to find them.

After arriving in Luang Prabang, Thuy Trang rented a motorbike and began exploring this tourist destination. In the afternoon, the two friends went up Phousi Hill to watch the sunset. Trang chose to leave early, at 5:30 PM, because it's a popular spot for foreign tourists. In particular, in Luang Prabang, visitors can experience a unique religious ceremony every day.

The alms-giving ceremony, held daily from 5:00 to 6:30 AM, is a very distinctive cultural and religious activity in Luang Prabang, much loved by tourists. Visitors should wake up early and choose a spot to experience it. The women selling the alms-giving ceremony also provide sticky rice and pastries, and set up chairs so you can sit and make offerings to the monks like a local.

"Around the center of the night market, there are many places worth visiting: the National Museum, Wat Xieng Thong temple, Wat Mai, the Luang Library area, and peaceful little corners very similar to Hoi An where you can take street photos," Thuy Trang said.

From Laos to Thailand

After two days in Luang Prabang, Thuy Trang took the C81 express train at 1:45 PM to return to Vientiane, and the next day she planned to travel to Udon Thani in Thailand, which borders Laos only about 60-70 km away. From Talat Sao bus station, you can take a bus from Laos to Thailand, which takes about two and a half hours. There are many departure times: 8 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM, 3 PM, and 5 PM. The ticket counter at Talat Sao Bus Station is open from 6:30 AM to 6 PM.

The immigration procedures between Laos and Thailand are quite simple. Tourists get off the bus, watch the line of people carrying luggage, queue up to get their passports stamped, go through security checks, and then get back on the same bus with the same license plate. The Thai and Lao immigration forms are readily available outside the stamping area; just get a pen, fill them out quickly, and get them stamped – that's it.

"Remember to prepare plenty of 20 baht bills (Thai currency) because you'll have to pay immigration fees 2-3 times at the same price," Thuy Trang shared. From Thuy Trang's perspective, Udonthani doesn't actually have too many places to visit. Trang believes that the backpacking trip from Laos to Thailand, which only took 2.5 hours, was the most memorable travel experience.

"I had breakfast in Laos this morning, but by afternoon I was already sitting and slurping bubble tea in Thailand," Trang quipped.

In particular, if you're only visiting Thailand for 2 days, around Udonthani, you don't need to buy a SIM card. You should download Map.me, then download an offline map of Udonthani or Thailand. If you're going further (Chiang Mai, Bangkok, etc.), you can buy a SIM card at the Thai border crossing (Nong Khai border crossing) or have a Thai SIM card delivered to your door on Klook. At the end of her backpacking trip from Laos to Thailand, Thuy Trang only spent about 5.5 million VND for the entire journey.

Anh Thi