Posts filed under 'Laos Destination'
Following news was annouced by Lufthansa recently. It should be useful for those of you taking the flights out of European Union countries as well as the United States and Canada.
From November 06 2006, new regulations on hand baggage will apply to all passengers departing from airorts in the European Union.
For the most part, the EU regulations correspond to the requirements imposed by the US authorities, which have applied since the end of September on all flights to or from the United States.
Under the new standardised regulations, the amount of liquids, gels and creams permitted in hand baggage willb e limited to 100 ml. per container. These have to be carried in a transparent, zip-lock plastic bag with a maximum volume of one litre and must be presented during security checks. Only one bag per passenger is permitted. Zip-lock bags can be bought at retailed outlets.
Exempted from this ruling are medicines as well as special food (i.e. baby food or food items for diabetics), larger amount of which may be carried in hand baggage if they are required during the flight. Liquids can also be purchased duty-free on board Lufthansa flights. Liquids that have been purchased after passing through security at the airport may also be taken on board, although this does not apply on flights to the United States.
The new regulations, which take effect on November 06 2006, apply to all flights departing from airports in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland as well as to all flights from the United States and Canada.
Lufthansa advises its passengers to pack any larger containers with liquids in their check-in luggage and to reduce the a mount of liquids taken on board to a minimum.
October 28th, 2006
With the increasing numbers of tourists visiting Luang Prabang - there are many restaurants offering Laotian, Thai, Western, Indian etc in Luang Prabang. Listed below are the MOST recommended places where we had personally visited:
Les 3 Nagas
Sakarine Road
Located in the famous hotel, Les 3 Nagas. The restaurant serves authentic Laotian food. Lovely atmosphere. Opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Cafe Ban Wat Sene
Sakarine Road
Located right opposite the Villa Santi Hotel. Set in a lovely 2-storey old French colonial house. Loatian and Western cuisine. Sit on the balcony to enjoy seeing the world goes by in Luang Prabang.
L’Elephant
Ban Vat Nong
Just 5 minutes walk off Sakarine Road. This is the BEST French restaurant in Luang Prabang (and in Laos). Excellent food but pricey! No airconditiong.
Pak Huay Mixay
Baan Xieng Moune
Medium-class restaurant serving authentic Laotian food. Reasonable prices.
If you go to any of these places in the evening - stop at the Handicraft Night Market before you get to the restaurant. Great place to browse for Laotian souvenir stuffs to take home!
Have a great evening and bon appetit!
October 22nd, 2006
Here is one of the most useful websites for passenger guide to over 480 airlines and 550 airports with ranking, opinions, news and more:
http://www.airlinequality.com
One particular section that we think will be VERY useful for fellow travelers:
BEST SEATING TIPS
as it contains passenger recommendations on best seats (legroom, width, comfort etc) on a range of world airlines. Listed are major airlines such as Aerofloat, Air Asia, Air France, Alitalia, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Delta Airlines, Emirates, Ethihad Airlines, EVA Air, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lauda Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Qantas Airways, SAS Scandinavian, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, Turkish Airline, United Airlines, Valuair, Virgin Atlantic etc.
Here is one of the samples - the best seating tips on Air Asia (Boeing 737-300) as they say:
“One class economy. All seats are at 29 inche and they have a free seating policy, so better board early and take the seats at the emgergency exits. These seats are wider but they do not recline. As you board take the one next to the aisle, (no one will purposely squeeze to seat next to the window), when it is ready for take off, lift the armrest and viola! A “business class” seat on a low-cost carrier! Another great seat, the row after the emergency exits by the window, great legroom, no seat in front of you just emergency exit. Remember never take the last row, I dare say it is even less than 29 inch!”
Check it out and make sure you request the right seats for your next travel!
September 19th, 2006
As of August 2006, the visa on arrival Laos are now available for period of stay up to 30 days (from 14 days). It is also available at any port of entry to Laos. Visa fee is US$ 30.00 per person. For those of you who would like to stay longer, visa extension is available (it is cheapest in Vientiane) at US$ 1.00 per person per day. If you arrange for visa extension through travel agents or tour companies, they will normally charge you up to US$ 4.00 per person per day (including their handling charge).
September 13th, 2006
Visitors to Lao PDR can now get a visa on arrival for 30 days, up from 15 days previously, the Laotian Foreign Ministry has announced. They can also get an extension of stay of this visa.
The updated regulation will play a major role in helping boost visitor arrivals to Lao PDR, already one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in ASEAN.
Lao PDR reported 1.09 million arrivals in 2005, up 22% over 2004. Of those, 60% were Thais, comprising the largest market share of arrivals.
The vast majority of international visitors to Lao PDR come via Thailand, either over the Thai Lao Friendship Bridge at Nong Khai or by air via Bangkok to the international airports at Vientiane and Luang Prabang.
The extended Visa regulations will be of considerable benefit for business travellers as well as special interest visitors on study tours.
They also harmonise the length of stay eligibility period for 30 days which is granted if the visas are applied for in advance at any of the Lao PDR diplomatic missions abroad.
The visa fee remains unchanged at US$30, except for Vietnamese and Chinese nationals who pay US$20.
Lao PDR has 12 international checkpoints, including three airports and nine overland crossings, of which four are with Thailand.
Overland travel from Thailand to Lao PDR will get another boost in December 2006 with the projected opening of the second bridge between the two countries. Construction of the bridge, linking Mukdaharn province in northeastern Thailand to Lao PDR’s southern province of Suvannakhet, began in December, 2003. The US$69 million bridge was partly financed by the Japanese government.
Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand
August 20th, 2006
A 600-km bus route links central Vietnam to southern Laos, with ongoing connections to Ubon Rajthani in Thailand.
Vietnam and Laos opened a bus link between Quy Nanh in Binh Dinh province and Pakse in Champasak, Laos. The route is intended to draw overland tourists across the border between Thailand and Vietnam.
The new service, luanched on July 04 2006, covers 600 kms. and take some12 hours for a US$ 16.00 fare. The buses, operated by Binh Dinh Trade and Transport Joint-Stock Company, currently run 4 weekly trips on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
The service starts in Vietnam’s coastal city of Quy Nhan on Route 19 and heads to Plei Ku in Gia Lai province before turning onto Route 4 and the trip north. The road passses through the mountains to Kon Tom province and the Lao border at Attapeu province. The bus then travels to Xekong before entering Champasak and its provincial centre, Pakse. Pakse is a key tourist city in southern Laos. Currently, there is a regular bus service linking it to Ubon Rajthani in Thailand. The visa excemption for Thai visitors to Laos and Vietnam is expected to drive Thai tourism to Pakse, which become an overland gateway to central Vietnam. Ubon Rajthani is easily accessible from Bangkok using either full-service or low-cost airlines. There are also daily rail service. News reports stated that the transportation authority of Vietnam had given permission for the company to extend the service to the Laos capital, Vientiane.
Source: TTR Weekly - July 19-25 2006
July 21st, 2006
We have to thank you our friend from Australia, Ken Matthews for giving orientalcompass.com a chance to help supporting the Ban Phou Dam School, outside of Luang Prabang (Laos). We are very happy to be a part of this contribution that Ken and his friends had made to the school recently. They were so kind in gathering all the gifts, stationaries, toys as well as some donations from people from Australia, Thailand and many countries in the world to help the children in that school. Please see some pictures that Ken had forwarded to show us all in the office. Once again, thank you very much for giving us a chance to put the smiles on those faces of the children in Ban Phou Dam. Again - Ken, many many thanks!
July 21st, 2006
Bangkok top the list of the Asia’s top 10 cities this year and is joined by Chiang Mai (Thailand), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kyoto, Hong Kong, Hanoi (Vietnam), Beijing, Jaipur (India) and Luang Prabang (Laos).
Here is the top 10 list for Asia:
Rank no. 1 (2005 rank no.1) - Bangkok (2006 score 86.11)
Rank no. 2 (2005 rank no.4) - Chiang Mai (2006 score 85.62)
Rank no. 3 (2005 rank N/A) - Kathmandu (2006 score 83.61)
Rank no. 4 (2005 rank no.4) - Kyoto (2006 score 82.20)
Rank no. 5 (2005 rank no.3) - Hong Kong (2006 score 82.18)
Rank no. 6 (2005 rank no. 5) - Hanoi (2006 score 82.09)
Rank no. 7 (2005 rank N/A) - Udaipur, India (2006 score 81.96)
Rank no. 8 (2005 rank N/A) - Beijing (2006 score 80.46)
Rank no. 9 (2005 rank N/A) - Jaipur, India (2006 score 79.94)
Rank no. 10 (2005 rank N/A) - Luang Prabang (2006 score 79.92)
* N/A means that the property was not among the top-ranked in this category last year.
Congratulations!
Source: Travel & Leisure Magazine
July 17th, 2006
Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can now travel within the region without visa starting next month.
A report from Philippines Daily Inquirer quoted Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar as saying that the 10-nation ASEAN will meet on July 23 2006 for their annual meeting and sign the agreement.
Some ASEAN members are already in place with biliteral agreements that allow their citizens limited travel without visas.
Laos and Myanmar are surprise signatories in the accord. The Laotian government requires all foreign visitors to secure a visa before entering their country. However, it has a visa-free travel arrangement with Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
While Myanmar does not allow any foreign national to visit the country without a visa. Vietnam has existing visa-free travel arrangement with most ASEAN members, except neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar.FAVE (Framework Agreement on Visa Excemption) is aimed at standardizing these bilaterlal agreements into a uniform pact that will allow citizens of ASEAN to visit member nations without a visa for a period of 2 weeks.
FAVE (Framework Agreement on Visa Excemption) is aimed at standardizing these bilaterlal agreements into a uniform pact that will allow citizens of ASEAN to visit member nations without a visa for a period of 2 weeks.ASEAN is comprised of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Myanmar and Vietnam.Source: http://www.allheadlinesnews.com
Source:
July 12th, 2006
Laos Airlines will have 2 new 56-seater MA60 aircrafts with deilvery target for July 30 and September this year. Currently, the airline’s fleet consists of 2 ATR-72 and 2 Y-12 so with the arrivals of the 2 new aircrafts - the airline will commence service on new and previously run routes for the coming high season. This is what they plan to do:
New Destinations
Luang Prabang-Pakse-Siem Reap
: 3 flights a week (using MA6 aircraft)
Luang Prabang-Hanoi
: 2 flights a week (using MA6 or ATR72)
Resumed Flights
Luang Prabang-Bangkok
: 3 flights a week (using MA6)
Vientiane-Pakse-Phnom Penh
: 2 flights a week (using MA6)
Flight Frequencies Increase
Vientiane-Bangkok
: from 1 to 2 flights a day (using MA6, ATR72)
Vientiane-Luang Prabang-Chiang Mai
: from 3 to 5 fights a week (using ATR72)
Vientiane-Pakse-Seim Reap
: from 3 to 5 flights a week (using ATR72)
Vientiane-Luang Prabang
: from 3 to 3 flights a day (using MA6, ATR72)
Pakse-Siem Reap
: from 3 flights a week to 1 flight a day (using MA6 and ATR72)
With these new flights listed above - it would a good itinerary to do Indochina Trip with Laos + Vietnam + Cambodia by starting the trip in Vientiane, then fly to Luang Prabang and then enter Vietnam from Hanoi and work your way down to Ho Chi Minh City with the final end in Siem Reap before flying out to Bangkok at the end. There are many ways of routing a perfect itinerary using these new flights depending on where you would like to go. It is best to check out exact flight details and days of operation once again before planning your trip. If you need any help or idea from us - we will be more than happy to assist!
July 8th, 2006
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