Introduction

Laos is a beautiful, landlocked country in Southeast Asia. While by no means an unknown destination, it is relatively less travelled by tourists than its neighbours of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. This is a shame, because it offers some spectacular scenery, warm-hearted – if, in many cases, brutally poor – people, and exceptional value-for-money for all kinds of visitors from backpackers to rather more well-heeled folk. Those who choose to come here almost always spend more time than they anticipated, enjoying the relaxed pace of life, myriad activities on offer, and excellent food.

On my travels in February 2025, I actually had no intention of visiting Laos. Partly, I did not know enough – or in fact, much at all – about the country. What I did know of – that it is a hub for sometimes regrettable youth excess – did not appeal.

That changed when I was in Vietnam, a country that I had high hopes for enjoying and, well, didn’t. Whilst I was in Hué, I met an Australian couple who were slowly making their way to the UK. They’d spent time in Laos already and convinced me to ditch my plans and head to Luang Prabang in the north of Laos. So, a shoutout to Holly and Julian, thanks for setting me on a path to two weeks of adventure.

Getting There

By air

Luang Prabang has an international airport almost within the city itself – only a couple of kilometres to the northeast of the centre. There aren’t many flights per day, and typically only from within Laos and from Thailand and Vietnam. There’s one connection to Siem Reap and one to Nanchang in China.

Lao Airlines is the state owned flag-carrier. Besides that, Vietnam Airlines, Bangkok Airways and a handful of other airlines serve the city.

By rail

Luang Prabang is one stop on the relatively new high-speed rail line from Vientiane (the capital, near the Thai border) to Boten in China.

Built as a joint venture between China and Laos, the route dramatically cuts journey times across the central and northern parts of the country, stopping in Vang Vieng an hour after departure from Vientiane, and Luang Prabang an hour later.

Note: there is a strict security regime when using the train. Any flammable products (sunscreen sprays included) or “dangerous weapons” (scissors or pocket knives included) will be confiscated.

By boat

A well-established backpacker route into the country is by boat on the Mekong from the Thai border at Chiang Khlong. It takes a couple of days, with an overnight stay in Pakbeng.

You will find many blogs telling you how to do this, just search “Thailand Laos by longboat”.

By road

I left this option until last, for reasons that will become clear later on in this post. Travelling by minibus is (to my mind) the worst way to get around Laos. Still, plenty of options exist to those same larger cities as the train offers, and at least a highway from Vientiane to Vang Vieng now exists to smooth that part of the journey (but motorbikes are not allowed on it).

Getting In

Unless you are a citizen of an ASEAN country, or a select few other countries with visa-free entry, you will need a visa to enter Laos.

Visa-on-arrival is certainly possible at the major airports, road bridges, and the terminal stations on the rail line.

Tip: do yourself a favour and apply online for a Laos e-Visa. It takes three business days, and you won’t find yourself at the back of a slow-moving queue and needing pristine US dollar bills to get the visa-on-arrival, to then join the back of the immigration queue for the stamp in your passport.

Luang Prabang

It’s a lovely city, genuinely I felt a sense of calm here, helped by the warm sunshine and absolute lack of hawkers, scammers and con-artists found in neighbouring countries.

The city sits against the Mekong river, whilst the Nam Khan river meanders off to the east. Sunsets are wild, I found a prime spot all to myself on the banks of the Mekong, although there are also many bars and boats offering sundowner packages.

Restaurants, bars, and shops selling legitimate and less-legitimate copies of goods abound.

Tip: the stores on the main street, Sisavangvong Road, have a significant markup on products that you can also find in the covered Dara market off Ratsavong Road. Prices in the market are 40-50% less for the same, uh, brand name goods.

There’s a decent night market, rather nicer than others I’ve been to, and a separate night food market.

Renting a Motorbike

Let’s get down to business. You can of course rent a scooter from any of the many businesses offering them. Personally, I would not want to ride a scooter on the route I took. People do, and the locals of course use them everywhere, but again (and I promise I will explain why), I cannot fathom making this journey on a 110 or 125 Honda.

Instead, I recommend trading up to a trail bike. Mine was a Honda CRF250L, a bike I would trust to get me anywhere. I rented mine from Off-Roading Laos, and while I’m not being paid to write this, I highly recommend this company. Harry, the (British) owner, is personable, always responsive, reliable, funny, and was my near constant companion over WhatsApp.

Riding solo is a very different experience from riding in a group. You have to be prepared for anything and to get yourself out of sticky situations on your own. If that’s not for you, form a group and go together. There are similar companies offering similar bikes, with tour guides and accommodation all thrown in. You pays your money and…

Harry gave me a full rundown of the rental contract, was flexible on number of days hire (fortunately…) and even when we discovered that I’d cracked a bracket on the exhaust on return, didn’t charge me when he’d determined that a simple weld job would fix it. And of course, it wasn’t necessary to leave my passport: just a copy of it and my international driving licence.

Tip: get an IDP (of the right treaty date for the country, 1949 for Laos) otherwise you won’t be covered by any insurance policy.

Choose Your Route

Here’s where my experience gets interesting. The typical loop from Luang Prabang goes clockwise:

1. Luang Prabang
2. Nong Khiaw (via route 13 and 1C)
3. Muang Hiam (via route 1C)
4. Phonsavan (via route 1C and route 7)
5. Vang Vieng (via route 7)
6. Luang Prabang (via route 13)

I actually recommend doing it anti-clockwise, going to Vang Vieng first. Why? Well let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

The Roads

Think of a bad road near you. Maybe it has some potholes that you have to avoid, or the surface has been patched up one too many times. Maybe it’s a bit gravelly, or is more of a dirt track.

These are not the conditions you will find in Laos. Outside of the major cities (like, literally as you cross the limit), the roads crumble. Asphalt is missing for vast expanses, length and breadth. Craterous potholes drop the bike suspension from under you. Landslides have ripped away the road surface and replaced it with ground up sandstone, boulders and rubble.

There are not many main roads in northern Laos – most of them are those on the map above. Therefore, they are used by all traffic, from scooters to AWD pickups to minibuses to ubiquitous Hyundai H-100 light freight to huge hulking 40-tonne articulated trucks.

Winding their way through the mountains on tight curves, these last heavy vehicles have ground away the road surface, to absolutely nothing in many places. You’ve not gone off-road, but these are off-road conditions.

However bad you are thinking it is, it’s worse. Northern Laos has the worst roads in “touristy” Southeast Asia. (I’m told the south is better but I can’t confirm).

And then there’s the dust. Those trucks lumber slowly up and down, usually backing up into threes or fours that you will want to get past somehow. They kick up huge clouds of dust that will clog the bike’s air intakes, your air intakes, coat everything you are wearing, and blind your vision of what’s left of the road.

And then there’s the clouds. Up in the highest sections, you’ll be in the cloud. It’s cold, damp, and with 10-metre visibility.

And then there are the drivers. Those AWD vehicles are always speeding, badgering you to get out of their way. The Hyundai pickups are the same, only carrying human or animal cargo.

The truck drivers I found to be more accommodating – when they saw me, they would indicate to let me know it was safe to overtake.

You, on your motorbike, in unfamiliar conditions, are insignificant.

My Advice

• Do not travel after dark.
• Do not travel in shorts and a vest.
• Do not travel without a helmet, gloves and other protective gear.
• Do not wander off into the brush or forest; unexploded bombs still regularly kill people.
• Do not even think about trying this route in the rainy season.

And with that all said, the reason I recommend the anti-clockwise route is that the last section, Nong Khiaw to Luang Prabang, is the shortest, and has approximately the best surface, and after all the other sections, you will want that sweet half-day to end on.

A Confession

I didn’t actually take the route shown in the map. Between Vang Vieng and Phonsavan, Google actually suggests two options: north-ish on route 7, and south-ish on, well… water.

Route 7 is horrible. Trucks. Potholes. Boring.

The other route looks interesting.

What Google fails to tell you, either by looking at the standard view or even in the detailed directions, is that a substantial portion of the first section is through a lake – Pa Boun to Na Luang. It’s roughly where the blue “3 hr 10 min” indicator is on the map above.

Only when you switch to satellite view and really zoom in does it become obvious. Google Maps thinks that a road goes through a lake.

Had I known this, I might have stuck to route 7. Instead, I found myself and my bike loaded onto a longboat for a three-hour journey, that goes once a day at “midday” (Laos time approximation). It took me two days of solid eight-to-ten hour riding to get to Phonsavan.

Google Maps Tips

And so, here’s what I have to say about Google Maps in this part of the world.

• Don’t trust it for anything.
• Suggested travel durations are laughably short. Bank on at least 40% longer, even on the “sensible” routes.
• Use two mapping apps. I used Organic Maps as a backup / confirmation source.
• Use the “offline maps” features. While for the most part Laos has incredibly good LTE data coverage, it’s not universal and when you really need to check your progress, not having data is frightening.
• Check both standard and satellite views, and zoom zoom zoom in to see what you’re really getting in to.

It Gets Worse

After the boat ride, an enforced stop in a tiny village (Sana Somboun) next to a massive gold mine was not what I was expecting to make, but since it was 5pm, I had to stop before dark.

Next morning, I set out to complete the section to Phonsavan, taking route 9303. You can tell by the numbering how minor this route is, but still it’s traversed (and ruined) by the trucks hauling ore from the gold mine.

Just when I thought the road could not get any worse, it disintegrated entirely into 20km of sand, high up in the mountains. It is exhausting riding a bike through sand, physically and mentally. I absolutely do not recommend it.

But I had no alternative. And hence I was glad that my rental period from Harry was flexible, because after all that had happened, I needed two extra days – eight in total, not six – to complete this loop (including two much-needed rest days).

Hence my advice: route 7 might be terrible, but this was more terrible so don’t try it unless you’re an accomplished off-road dirt bike rider (which I feel a little like I am now).

All that said, there’s still a cracking sunset to be had en-route.

Where To Stay

In the bigger towns and cities you’ll have plenty of options at all price levels, so I’m obviously only saying where I stayed.

Luang Prabang: Museum Inn and Hotel. Lovely colonial-era frontage, excellent staff and very comfortable. Easy walking distance to the market areas, but then nowhere is very far away in the centre of the city. Good breakfast and great shower.

Vang Vieng: Camellia Hotel. Rather basic but clean. Very average breakfast and bad shower. You could do better but since I basically got there, ate, slept and left it was okay.

Phonsavan: Kongkeo Guesthouse. Amazing little bungalow affair, and while the facilities aren’t anything special (and no breakfast available), the owner Mr Kong is an absolute gem of a man, stoking the fire at night (it gets cold here) and telling stories. Highly recommended.

Muang Hiam: there’s not much choice here, so the Daonouar Guesthouse was my selection. It’s new, but also nothing special, just okay for an overnight. Terrible breakfast, sub-par shower. The reason for staying here is that across the road is a hot spring which is great to unwind in after a long journey.

Nong Khiaw: Papaya Resort. “Resort” is a bit of a stretch but this is a new offering with sixteen bungalows looking out over the Nam Ou river, a beautiful setting offering great sunrise and sunset viewing. Great shower and a heated toilet seat (not sure why). There’s a restaurant attached for breakfast (not included) and other meals, and while the organisation is a bit chaotic, the food is really good. It’s a little way out of the town but only five minutes ride.

I also stayed at the Phousy Gueshouse near Sana Somboun as an emergency place during my wild two days avoiding route 7. Cheap, no breakfast or any fancy facilities. But needs must.

Fuel and ATMs

For the most part, fuel is not hard to come by. Every medium-sized town will have at least one petrol station. I tended to fill up at about half a tank but never came close to fuel anxiety. There’s no petrol station in Sana Somboun, but there are places selling (expensive, relatively) fuel by the litre bottle.

Just indicate to fill to the max, and the attendants know what to do.

For cash, again ATMs are not hard to come by in towns. There’s all kinds of fretting by reviewers about cards being swallowed or cash not delivered. “Don’t use a Visa card”, “Don’t use a Mastercard” are the contradictory statements. I had no problem whatsoever with my German Visa card or my Wise Visa card.

Conclusion

This is not a tour for the faint-hearted. Each day is long, hot, dusty and you will ache for days afterwards. It’s not a relaxing experience, especially compared to other tours you may do in Europe or even Thailand or Vietnam.

You will see unsettling amounts of poverty and terrible living conditions. But you will also see grand vistas of nature around every corner. You will constantly be waving at little kids who rarely see a foreigner. You will gain riding experience like no other. You will love it and hate it. You will be changed by it.

And you won’t forget it.

Those Views