Vientiane

Vientiane, Lao PDR – getting around the city

For a capital city, Vientiane is small by any standards and as a sightseer, you can visit many of the city's attractions on foot, or if you're a little more adventurous, by bicycle.

Renting bicycles is quite popular with tourists wanting to visit the local sights around Vientiane. While many of the roads are not well paved, they are more or less flat and there are no hills. There are several shops that rent push-bikes including Walkman Village on Th. Fa Ngam, the river-front road. It is a pleasant and cheap way to get around the city, needing care in the day time, but not at all recommended after dark. The Lao, much like the Thais, have little consideration for anyone else on the roads, especially pedestrians or cyclists. They are totally preoccupied with their own journeys, so be careful!

For longer distances there are tuk-tuks. These are noisy three-wheeled contraptions with a motorcycle engine and two inside-facing bench seats. There is a canopy that provides shade from the sun, but little protection from the elements during the rainy season. For some reason their brakes make a screaming sound like a donkey being throttled! Always negotiate the price with the driver before setting off on your journey.

There is the larger pickup-style jumbo too. Here is the smaller size – believe it or not 10 or more passengers can be carried!

Conventional taxis (mostly old cars) are available at a rank behind the Morning Market, at the airport and also at the Friendship Bridge which spans the Mekong River and leads to Nongkhai on the Thai side. Many of the better hotels operate mini-bus services, offering pickups and tours around the city for their guests.

Local bus services do exist around some areas of the city and there is a service from town to the Friendship Bridge. These small buses are slow and make many stops. There is also a 'VIP' service between Vientiane and Udon Thani (75km) or Nongkhai (25km). See more about this and travel in and out of Laos on our transport page.

Due to the lack of good public transport, longer term residents really need some form of personal transport. Often it's a rented or bought motorcycle. Chinese and Korean Honda copies are readily available for about $450, while a local Honda assembly plant sells branded models for more than double that. Driving is on the right hand side of the road (the French again), and somewhat risky for a novice rider who is not used to this – or the Lao style of driving generally.

There are some driving habits that have to be appreciated in Laos. White centre lines and/or striped areas are for guidance only and simply ignored most of the time, as are stop signs and red lights at non-police-monitored intersections and the few pedestrian crossings.

White lines or not, there is an invisible 'middle lane' which is used by traffic travelling in both directions for overtaking or stopping to turn left. Combine this with motorcycles winding in and out of the cars and trucks, and making U-turns or crossing the road directly in front of you, without any warning or hand signal, you have the recipe for frequent mishaps. And there are – invariably involving one or more motorcycles and maybe a car. Rarely do you see serious accidents between two four-wheeled vehicles, though.

Many roads in Lao do not allow very high speeds due to their condition. There are new roads being built and because they are smooth and wide, they become race-tracks at times for impatient Lao and Thai drivers. But be careful driving at night, especially with other motorcyclists – young Lao in high spirits and varying states of intoxication (there is no control on alcohol intake) on their way home after the evening beer-drinking session or disco. Many do not have (or do not use) their lights. There are at least three explanations for this – the most likely is that the bulb or wiring has failed and never been fixed; second it saves the battery; and third, believe it or not, that riding with lights attracts 'bad spirits' or ghosts. Take your pick!

A car if you can afford it, is a far safer and more comfortable option, especially during the rainy season between May or June and November. In December and January, there is a noticeable change in the weather and it can get quite cold at night and the early morning, 15-20 degrees C, and much colder in the higher, mountainous regions. The climate and latitude are similar to Northern Thailand including Chiangmai. Cool nights are a welcome respite before the hot dry and dusty weather starts, followed by a humid build-up to the rains. Riding a motorcycle is even more dangerous in the wet weather, and with the added chill factor from the wind, is cold enough to require a warm jacket, especially in the evenings.

This is Lane Xang Avenue which runs from the Presidential Palace on the river to the Victory Monument (Patuxai) in the distance. Quite a way beyond that is the famous That Luang temple. Directly on the right is Vientiane's famous 'Morning Market'. Except for a short morning and evening rush hour, there is a general absence of heavy traffic around much of the city.

More Information : www.retire-asia.com

Getting around in town

In Luang Prabang there is yet another variant on three wheeled transport, a motorbike with a bench seat attached on the side, with an outboard wheel holding the thing up. It's like a lateral sidecar with a little roof on it. You feel a bit like you're sitting in a garden swing--one that's bouncing along the road at 40 km/hr.

In any case, just wave them down and then say where you want to go (or point the way) and pay reasonably at the end: about 1000 kip for any ride under ten minutes or so. All of them, like the aging taxicabs, are neatly and officially labeled with their height, width and length and the maximum number of passengers. This could not be more unlike Cambodia, where I have witnessed eight human beings riding a single motorbike and legal license plates are seen as a bit of a curiosity.

In another mark of sophistication,bicycles are available for rent all over Luang Prabang for next to free. There are also several places to rent motorbikes, at about $7/day. Two of them are within steps of Lao Aviation, another is near the museum.

More Information : www.garella.com