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  #51  
Old 11-16-2007, 09:37 AM
WhoIam WhoIam is offline
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Location: Vientiane
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Default 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.
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  #52  
Old 11-16-2007, 07:02 PM
roamer590 roamer590 is offline
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Default 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
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  #53  
Old 11-19-2007, 07:40 AM
ofdabeat ofdabeat is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: friggin bangkok baby
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Default 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?
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  #54  
Old 11-19-2007, 09:07 AM
WhoIam WhoIam is offline
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Vientiane
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Default 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.
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  #55  
Old 11-23-2007, 03:52 PM
roamer590 roamer590 is offline
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Default 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.
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  #56  
Old 11-23-2007, 11:04 PM
OTL OTL is offline
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Default 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]
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  #57  
Old 11-24-2007, 04:16 AM
WhoIam WhoIam is offline
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Vientiane
Posts: 2,152
Default 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.
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  #58  
Old 11-24-2007, 06:47 AM
PokrLikeItsProse PokrLikeItsProse is offline
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Default Re: Ask WhoIam anything about living in Vientiane, Laos

Is your preferred beer there Beerlao? What is your opinion of the drink lao lao?
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  #59  
Old 11-24-2007, 08:03 AM
WhoIam WhoIam is offline
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Vientiane
Posts: 2,152
Default 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.
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  #60  
Old 11-24-2007, 10:41 AM
roamer590 roamer590 is offline
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Default 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.
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