Laos
Traveling South from Hauy Xai to border crossing with Cambodia
Not part of original visa plan, but with visa upon arrival decided to head to Cambodia from Laos instead of Thailand

Transportation Options and Experience
Loas is not a fully developed country and I think one of the highest countries that receive foreign aid. This was also reflected in the transportation options, but this made it quite fun!
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Walk-abouts in traveled through Cities
First city was Hauy Xai for taking the slow boat South to Luang Prabang. Local bus to Vientiane and Pakse.

VIRTUAL TOUR - Slow Boat down Mekong River; Hauy Xai and Pak BengHauy Xai is the border town with Thailand. It is pretty much based around this position and with the main reason for folks coming here is to take the Slow Boat down South. There are a lot of websites on this and easy to Google. The challenge for any traveler is the border crossing. Supposedly 10km from town it is really for foreigners with local Thai and Laos folks using the old jetty points and boats. After not a great experience of the "took-took" drivers at the Border Post I decided to walk the way. A surprise to my hotel manager but mentioned that I was not the 1st to complain. It is a slight monopoly for transport and a distance that makes one consider if walking is a good idea. Probably not as I probably spent just as much money re-hydrating myself during and after the walk which was about the same cost. Pictures below are from the walk-taken, the jetty and 1st night stop-over in Pak Beng

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VIRTUAL TOUR - Luang Prabang and Kuang Si Falls.  With 1 EMBEDDED VIDEO IN THIS PANO.  Made a random post of Luang Prabang below. Which I think pretty much captures my feeling and view of the place. Then staying at the same Guest House, I was invited/dragged me along to their trip to Kuang-Si falls. I did not know about the falls as I did not plan this trip. But it was the highlight of the trip so far ... other than Bagan ofcourse.

There is a VIDEO EMBEDDED in this tour. For each 360 degree picture or tour ... (Double-click for full-screen. Click and drag mouse/finger to navigate the 360)

VIRTUAL TOUR - VientianeThe rest of the guesthouse members went North, I continued my travels heading South to see Ankor Wat in Cambodia. I took the local bus from Luang Prabang to the Capital Vientiane. The trip started quite eventful involving bus station manager, my being left behind and soldiers/police with Kalashnikovs ... as noted on facebook, if you want to hear this story, you have to buy me a drink. 🙂 For each 360 degree picture or tour ... (Double-click for full-screen. Click and drag mouse/finger to navigate the 360)

VIRTUAL TOUR - Pakse and Don Khon - 4000 islandsAfter 11 hours on a local bus to Pakse... I stayed in a nice hotel. The breakfast was great! Also the view from the 7th floor. But this was a stop-over to my goal of crossing into Cambodia and staying a few days at the 4000 Islands which is supposed to be a party backpacker place. It was off-season, the place was very quiet. I did a walk-about and had a great experience with a local dog which you can see on the video below. This was the highlight of the stay here. I can imagine this place to be a zoo peak season, and only disappointing thing was having to pay pretty much for every activity or location. But if you stay a while, you sort of get by as a local and I think this is what this place is really about. Just to get away from everything. . For each 360 degree picture or tour ... (Double-click for full-screen. Click and drag mouse/finger to navigate the 360)

Less than $50USD/day
Absolutely no problem at all in Laos. But the quality is less than in Thailand. I think the guest houses are just as good as the "hotels" and the hostels having more traffic probably are better and more enjoyable for the whole experience.

Getting across the Border - 5th July 2016
I must say even crossing from Malaysia to Thailand I was asked to pay "travel road insurance" on the bus. I was the only one who did not pay. The border crossings probably have been a highlight of my travels so far. Walking 10km in the North of Laos to avoid a monopoly situation of local took-tooks for the price of 4 soft drinks. To crossing in the South to Cambodia which I have captured in the random post. Happy for the experience and the friends I have made on the way. Without these trials we probably would not have met. 🙂

My favourite memory song for Laos ...