Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

[ QUOTE ]
roamer,

[/ QUOTE ]
Yo whatup sabaidee.

[ QUOTE ]
rwhat are you doing in laos?

[/ QUOTE ]
Ah yes my favourite question. (mom, thats not you is it?)

-Im helping disabled street-children to rehabilitate from drugs and learn english.
-I contribute blood to 3 different hospitals each month, including a vet clinic.
-Im relishing the rich culture in this forgotten land of lore and culture and whatnot.
-Im taking in the buddhist way of life, freeing myself from the western cultures rat-race.
-Im just constantly thinking about how supercool and alternative I am for living here.
[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Or maybe it was actually like this: [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

-Im grooming up young virgin lao girls from poor families whose most valuable asset in this world is their daughers flower, to believe i will marry them, then I [censored] them and move on.
-Im trying to kill myself by speedracing an old rickety chinese motorbike at night, in rain, without helmet or even shoes, crazily drunk and high on whatever drugs are available.
-Im playing MTT poker all night and sleeping all day.
-Im buying heaps of $1.50 DVDs and watch them one time then leave them gathering dust, even though i could rent them for $0.50.
-Im recklessly tearing up earths layer of ozone with my grossly excessive and selfish airconditioning.
-Im just constantly thinking about how supercool and alternative I am for living here.


[ QUOTE ]
what visa do you have?

[/ QUOTE ]
Just the $25 one that u get at the border, which is valid for a month. If you wanna extend this at the immigration office, its $2 a day, so the best solution for me is just crossing the border into thailand and back, buying another $25 visa. I then also get to do some shopping and other stuff in Nong Khai, which is about an hour from here by bus/tuktuk.

[ QUOTE ]
you get kip out of the atm or usd?

[/ QUOTE ]
Only kip, which sucks. And you better know where you are going if you wanna take out alot of cash. Me myself needed a few hundred $$ yesterday, but the ATM i was at only gave 10.000kip notes, so that was 100 banknotes for 1 million kip (ca$100), then I went to another ATM and cashed out another 1million, but this time it was 50.000 notes so I got only a small stash of 20 freshly printed notes per 1million kip (which is maximum per transaction). It really makes a difference to get 20 fresh banknotes as opposed to 100 old stinky dirty ones.

Bring some $100 bills with you if u come, nice to have some backup cash.

------------------------------------------------------------
What I came here to post before getting distracted by that little Q%A session:

So today, the guy came and installed internet at my place. I got deal that gives me unlimited upload/download for $50 a month, but at a limited speed of 128-192kbps or something. anyway its more than fast enough for playing poker and surfing. A huge improvement from my GPRS connection.
The setup fee was $30 and I paid a $150 deposit for the equipment (modem, cables and a 10ft antenna on the roof) So far so good [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

WhoIam... good news for you [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Laos Considers Tuk-Tuk Ban

By Jamie Lee

VIENTIANE (Reuters Life!) - Tuk tuks are to Southeast Asia what horse-drawn carriages were to Europe centuries ago, but the iconic and ubiquitous three-wheeled auto-rickshaw could soon disappear from Laos.

Vientiane is home to about 3,800 vividly painted tuk tuks that ferry both tourists and locals around the bustling city.

Similar to the tuk tuks of Bangkok, these motorized rickshaws are cheap and convenient, but now some city officials want them off the road by 2010 to curb traffic congestion and accidents, as well as modernize the city's transport system.

The tuk tuk ban has yet to be approved by the government, but more than 30 new public buses are due to start operating in Vientiane soon, a sign many tuk tuk enthusiasts said could point to the end of an era.

"The tourists like tuk tuks. They are cheap and are the traditional vehicles of Laos," said Bouaxeng Phetsalath, manager of Vientiane's Tuk Tuk Association. "Maybe they think they're not beautiful any more."

"The tuk tuks are everywhere in Laos," added city resident Thongamala Sayavong. "Without them, I feel like I'm not in Laos." Handicap International Belgium, a non-governmental organization that tracks the number of road accident victims in Laos, fears the ban could actually worsen traffic in Vientiane as more people would rely on their own mode of transport.

"If the ban takes place, it will lead to even more motorcycles and cars on the road," coordinator Christa Weichert said.

Of the hundreds of road accidents in Vientiane each month, only a few involve tuk tuks.

http://www.topix.net/world/laos/2007...auto-rickshaws

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

I don't have a problem with tuk tuks, I just think the drivers should be shot. From the second I walk outside, the air is filled with people shouting "TUK-TUK!" at me. I used to be polite but now I just say "no" with mixture of disgust and contempt. Half the time I still get the inevitable "you want something? Marijuana? Lady?"

One of these days I'm going to completely loose it and start screaming "Look goddamnit, if I wanted a [censored] tuk tuk I would go to one of the many tuk tuks by the side of the road. Since I'm walking by your vehicle without saying anything, no, I clearly do not need a [censored] tuk tuk." This would be while I'm stabbing him. Don't even get me started on when guy number 10 in a line of 10 tuk tuks yells out "TUK-TUK!" after he's just seen me turn down two other people ten feet away. That's right [censored], there was something so incredibly [censored] compelling about your tuk tuk that I couldn't wait to jump in it. Or maybe those ten feet of walking totally exhaused me to the point where I couldn't even conceive of walking to my destination.

Ok, serious answer time. There's no way this gets approved. There's no alternate service apart from a few taxis that are actual cars and these just try to charge white people ridiculous fees. The locals need tuk tuks for transportation, especially things too big to fit on a motorbike. The big tuk tuks ("jumbos") serve as shuttle busses and run fixed routes. I have seen more buses recently, but by "new" they mean "new to Vientiane." These things are over 30 years old. Traffic isn't much of a problem except for a few areas at rush hour.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

AFter spending 3 months in cambodia earlier this year and then coming back to laos, I always wondered why there aren't motobike taxis here- So much more convenient even more comfortable.

Btw.. u should be reading this forum also.. Thaivisa.com, the good old community for anything thailand related has recently opened a southeast asia subforum and there are plenty laos expats around there.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showforum=123

btw man.. .rent a motobike when u go on visa run.. its like 20 minutes out to the bridge, a pleasant ride and u can park it safely at the lao side while u go nuts in thailand for a few hrs.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

WhoIam, are you still in a long-term hotel?

roamer, how did you find your apartment, and what sort of deposit was required? How widely available are short-term rentals for tourists?

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

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I always wondered why there aren't motobike taxis here- So much more convenient even more comfortable.

[/ QUOTE ] I was thinking the same thing yesterday after I posted on tuk-tuks. I can only assume that the tuk-tuk lobby is too strong or something similar. This would be an easy business to set up since everyone already has a motorbike and a cell phone. Plenty of Thais earn extra money as motorbike taxi drivers while having another job. If anyone wants to stake me I'll start this up.

[ QUOTE ]
Btw.. u should be reading this forum also.. Thaivisa.com, the good old community for anything thailand related has recently opened a southeast asia subforum and there are plenty laos expats around there.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showforum=123

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks, I used to browse through the forum when I lived in Thailand and will do so again now that it pertains to me. I found it funny that they don't allow discussion of all the things we talk about here: gambling, prostitutes, circumventing internet filters, etc.

[ QUOTE ]
WhoIam, are you still in a long-term hotel?

[/ QUOTE ]I'm still there, mostly because I can pick up a usable internet signal until 7pm 6 days a week and this is very rare here. Broadband is very expensive and internet cafes, while cheap, suck to spend long periods of time in and are often less reliable than the random network I can get.

The reason I don't have an apartment is that I'm going back to the US around Christmas for an undefined period, probably 2-4 weeks. I'm still only 90% sure I'll want to come back to Vientiane to stay long-term so I don't want to get locked into a lease. Assuming I come back I'll be looking to get something in the $400/month range, which depending on exact location, should get me a gated 2-3 bedroom house near the city center and a live-in maid. I'll probably end up spending close to this for internet expenses [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

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roamer, how did you find your apartment, and what sort of deposit was required? How widely available are short-term rentals for tourists?

[/ QUOTE ]

Was an ad in vientiane times, a daily newspaper.
these apartments are $150-$200 a month, I think I paid 2months deposit.
If there are empty units there should be no problem at all to rent for just a month or something. In my contract there is nothing that says i cannot move out at the end of this month if I want.
I am incredibly lazy, if you put some time and energy into it you can probably find way cooler and cheaper places. There are even agents that can help you find a place suited to your needs.

In short, no problem [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Whatever ur needs you will surely be able to find something.

[img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

damn im tired, mtts round the clock are killing me. sleep now. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

So you can't internet at your hotel or anything either? I'm looking to move someplace in SE Asia for 5 to 6 months, but I will need to play poker while there. Is Laos out? Is Thailand the only option?

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

Yeah, could you expand on the internet situation in Laos?

I'm a low limit grinder so I would definitely want at least somewhat consistent access. Is this very hard to find? You mentioned it was very expensive. Do you know how much?

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

How is the street food? Safe or is it better to stay away?

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, could you expand on the internet situation in Laos?

I'm a low limit grinder so I would definitely want at least somewhat consistent access. Is this very hard to find? You mentioned it was very expensive. Do you know how much?


[/ QUOTE ]
If you have a laptop there are internet cafes everywhere. Connection speed varies depending on the place, time of day, day of the week, and how many people are there. Genreally you want as few packpackers as possible because they'll kill your bandwidth with skype, webcams, youtube, etc. Prices range from $.40-$.60/hr. There are a handful of places I've found that are consistently reliable. The Lao version of Starbucks has wifi that be accessed at roughly $2/hr and is the most reliable (and by far most expensive) option.

Your options for at-home broadband are ADSL, Planet, and your cell phone. From what I remember, a 156k DSL line is about $250/month with a $100 installation fee. 256k is $350/month. Prices vary depending on speed and whether you're willing to share the line with others. Planet is the most reliable option; it uses a satellite dish in your yard to send and receive the web via microwaves. Prices start at $30/ month for .5 GIG TOTAL UPLOAD AND DOWNLOAD, $50 for 1 gig, and so on. Somewhat reasonable plans with unlimited access are available but you have to buy the equipment which starts at $1k. Finally, if you have the right cell phone, you can use it as a modem for something like $.10/minute. I don't know much about this. Oddly you can do this and use your Blackberry, but none of the phone companies offer voicemail.

[ QUOTE ]
How is the street food? Safe or is it better to stay away?

[/ QUOTE ] There isn't much street food, at least compared to Thailand. When it exists, it's usually connected to a small restaurant. I eat cheap local food all the time and have never had any serious problems.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

I have internet now that I pay $50/ month for. It's slow, but poker really doesn't require very fast connection, not much data is being sent back and forth. So for poker it works fine, although surfing and downloads is hell. Sometimes I get disconnected for a few minutes. that sucks [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. but not a big problem. Miss a few hands from some tourneys here and there, it's part of the charm of living here I guess [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Managed to take down the $5 rebuy on stars for $7k like 2-3 weeks ago . so it does work.

Anyway, next week i will get this [censored] upgraded. the guy that set it up said i was gonna get 1mbit line. (which i have no idea what is but he said it was super fast) And yeah it is no cap on upload / download either. I have stuff on download while I'm not at home like episodes of high stakes poker etc . its slow but they get here eventually.

But yeah if super fast internet is the most important thing in ur life then no laos 4 u i guess.

ANyway I will give u an update when I get my upgrade [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Peace

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

Hey,

For some crazy reasons i prefer not to explain I need to spend a few day out of thailand ( between dec 1 and 4-5 ).

Vientiane sounds pretty good, any tips on how to go there by train/bus from bangkok? Can I just go to Hualamphong and ask "vientiane"?

Is the visa cheaper if I take it in BKK?

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

There's a sleeper train to Nong Khai that's something like 600 baht for a 2nd class bed with air-con. You can get a VIP bus for about the same price and the seats are roughly equivalent to business class on an airplane. I actually prefered the bus because the ride was smoother and it was easier to sleep. From there it's something like $5 of tuk-tuks and busses to get to Vientane. Everyone else will be going there so just follow them. A step up from this would be flying domestic to Udan Thani and taking a shuttle to Vientiane.

I don't think the visa is less in bkk, it should be around $25 for you at the border.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

Do you know any good food delivery restaurants?

Ive had loads and loads of pizzas and sandwiches from "Swedish Pizza % Baking House" , they are fast and the food is good. Their no. is 021-215705, remember they close early, around 8-9PM. Pizzas are 30-60k.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

I definitely recommend Vang Vieng. Out of all the places I went in Laos (Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and a gibbon reserve in the jungle up north) it was my favorite place by far. Very small town and the only thing to do there is go drunk tubing down the river. The bars on the side of the river let you go off rope swings and high-dives as long as you buy a beer at their bars lol.

On a side note, here is a story about Marijuana and its legality. We rented bikes one day in Luang Prabang and rode them to some waterfalls where my friends lit up a small joint. A Lao cop came over and demanded $500 from each of my friends (3 total) and they negotiated it down to $500 total. The cop even let my friend take has motorbike back to our hotel so my friend could pick up the money lol. Other than that though, we never had any other problems really.

Reading this thread is making me really jealous and making me want to go back so bad. Have fun out there [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

[ QUOTE ]
Do you know any good food delivery restaurants?


[/ QUOTE ] You can order food from a couple restaurants (as well as groceries, booze, and office supplies) from http://www.shopping-d.com/ I know Xayoh delivers pizzas but they're terrible. Cote D'zore (sp?) has the best pizza I've tried here including the oddly delicious smoked salmon pizza.

I had a couple beers with ChromePony last night.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

Is your preferred beer there Beerlao? What is your opinion of the drink lao lao?

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

[ QUOTE ]
Is your preferred beer there Beerlao? What is your opinion of the drink lao lao?

[/ QUOTE ] Beerlao is the best beer in SE Asia and a damn good lager by any standards. When I come back in the new year I'm planning on getting a draft beer system set up in my house. Beerlao dark claims to be a lager but it's really more of an ale and is pretty mediocre as far as ales go. It's still very drinkable though. You can get German and Belgian beers in a few stores at $5-6/bottle. Next time I'm in Bangkok I'm going to pick up a few cases of good beer at Belgian Beer Paradise and bring them back here.

Lao lao is surprisingly drinkable for incredibly cheap booze (You can get a bottle for roughly $.70). If they had this in the US every college kid and wino would be drinking it instead of Banker's Club (or whatever your cheapest local brand is) vodka.

Roamer, I think Taj Mahal also delivers.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

Wow, only had a quick look at the site but $3 for a carton of orange juice? The same one costs 18000 i believe in v-shop. do u order from them on a regular basis?

A small lol: the "KFC" which has nothing to do with the american franchise, uses the official KFC logo [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] . Only in Laos.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

I've never used the service but the prices seemed fairly reasonable when I browsed the site a few months ago. It seems like it would be useful if you don't have a care since it's tough to carry many items on a motorbike. Lao KFC is named that because it's on Kxxxxxxxx road but they're certainly not shy about associating themselves with the actual brand. The chicken is tasty but they only sell drumsticks.

Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos
 

[ QUOTE ]
I had a couple beers with ChromePony last night.

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed.

Thanks for showing me around, Vientiane really doesn't have much to offer the casual tourist but its a nice little city, certainly can see how it might be fun and very chill to live there.

I've been traveling around Laos for a few weeks now and its one of my favorite countries so far. The people are just so genuinely friendly, actually far more so even in parts other than Vientiane, its much less overwhelmingly touristy than Thailand and everything is so so cheap. Strongly recommended location for a trip to anyone with a little travel experience.