Across the Annamite range on the ground
The overland crossing almost nobody sells: Hanoi to Ninh Binh, a night train south, the caves of Phong Nha, then over the Lao Bao pass into southern Laos for the Bolaven Plateau and the Mekong islands.
At a glance
- Days
- 11 days, 10 nights
- Party size
- 1 to 8, private
- Start
- Hanoi
- End
- Pakse
- Effort
- Moderate — one night train, one 7-hour border day
- From
- USD 1,820 per person
Who this route is for
People who want to cross from Vietnam into Laos on the ground and are prepared to earn it. Almost every operator flies this leg, and there is a reason: the northern crossings are slow, and three of the four require a Lao visa obtained from an embassy in advance because the eVisa is not valid there.
This route uses Dansavanh–Lao Bao, which is the one Vietnam–Laos crossing that issues a visa on arrival. That single fact determines the whole shape of the trip, which is why it runs through central Vietnam and into southern Laos rather than the more obvious Hanoi-to-Luang Prabang line.
A Laos eVisa is not valid at any land border with Vietnam. At Nam Phao–Cau Treo, Nam Khan–Nam Can and Bo Y–Phou Keua you need a visa already in your passport from a Lao embassy. Dansavanh–Lao Bao issues visa on arrival, which is why we cross there. Full detail on visas and entry.
Day by day
Arrive Hanoi
Met at Noi Bai, 45 to 80 minutes into the Old Quarter. Nothing scheduled.
Hanoi on foot
The Old Quarter trade streets, the Temple of Literature, and the colonial quarter in the afternoon. Lunch at a place with plastic stools and no English menu.
Ninh Binh, then the night train south
Two hours south to the limestone the guidebooks call the inland Ha Long, which undersells it. A rowing boat through the Trang An caves in the afternoon — rowed with feet, which you have to see.
Dinner in Ninh Binh, then the sleeper south. Four-berth soft compartment, and it is a great deal better than it was ten years ago.
Phong Nha
Off the train at Dong Hoi around dawn, breakfast, then 50 kilometres inland into the karst. Phong Nha cave itself is entered by boat, up the river and into the mountain.
Afternoon at the Bomb Crater Bar or on a bicycle through the valley, which is one of the pleasanter afternoons in Vietnam.
Paradise Cave and the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Paradise Cave in the morning: a kilometre of boardwalk inside a chamber 70 metres high, and it is a genuinely astonishing thing. Then the western branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which runs through this valley and is still marked by craters.
Across the Lao Bao pass to Savannakhet
The long day. South to Dong Ha, then west on Route 9 over the Annamite range to the border at Lao Bao. Vietnamese exit, a few hundred metres of no-man's land, Lao entry with visa on arrival.
Then three hours west across the Savannakhet plain to the Mekong. Savannakhet is a quiet colonial town nobody visits and it is all the better for it.
Savannakhet to Pakse
A slow morning in Savannakhet: the dinosaur museum, which is small and eccentric and real, and the crumbling French quarter by the river. Then four hours south to Pakse.
The Bolaven Plateau
Up onto the plateau, 1,000 metres above the Mekong, which is where the coffee comes from and where the temperature drops ten degrees. Tad Fane and Tad Yuang falls, a working coffee farm, and villages of the Katu and Alak.
We visit a farm that sells to us at the farm price and takes no commission from your purchases, which is a duller arrangement than the usual one and an honest one.
Pakse to Four Thousand Islands
Three hours south to where the Mekong spreads across fourteen kilometres of channels and islands. Boat to Don Khon, where the French built a railway in 1893 to get gunboats past the falls and abandoned it.
Don Khon and the falls
Bicycles, which is how the island works. The old railway bridge, Li Phi falls, and Khone Phapheng — by volume the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia and the reason the Mekong was never a trade route to China.
Late afternoon on the water looking for Irrawaddy dolphins. The population has recovered to more than a hundred, which is better than it was, and they are still hard to see. We will not promise you a sighting.
Depart Pakse
Boat off the island and three hours north to Pakse airport, which is small and easy. Allow the morning.
What it costs
| Party size | Simple | Comfortable | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 travellers | USD 1,820 | USD 2,790 | USD 4,830 |
| 3 - 4 | USD 1,490 | USD 2,310 | USD 4,300 |
| 5 - 8 | USD 1,280 | USD 2,020 | USD 3,950 |
What the price includes
- 10 nights as described, including one sleeper berth
- Ninh Binh – Dong Hoi overnight train, four-berth soft sleeper
- Private vehicle and driver throughout, in both countries
- Vietnamese and Lao guides, each in their own country
- Border assistance at Lao Bao – Dansavanh with staff on both sides
- Phong Nha cave, Paradise Cave, Trang An boat, all island boats and bicycles
- Breakfast daily plus the meals named day by day
What it does not include
- International flights into Hanoi and out of Pakse
- Lao visa on arrival fee, USD 35 - 50 depending on passport
- Travel insurance, which we require
- Drinks, laundry, and meals not named
- Tips for guides and drivers
Photographs
Who this trip is wrong for
- Anyone who wants Luang Prabang. This route goes into southern Laos, and Luang Prabang is 700 kilometres and a domestic flight away.
- Travellers who will not do a night train or a seven-hour border day. Both are structural and neither can be removed.
- People who need Wi-Fi that works. Don Khon has electricity and an approximate relationship with the internet.
- Anyone expecting good hotels in Savannakhet or on the islands. The best available is comfortable and simple, not smart.
- Parties who want Ha Long Bay. It is not on this route and adding it costs two days at the start.
Practical notes
The visa question, again, because it matters
At Lao Bao you will be issued a visa on arrival. Bring two passport photographs, USD 35 to 50 in clean notes depending on your nationality, and a pen. There is an unofficial “overtime fee” of one or two dollars at some hours; our guide handles it and you do not need to.
Weather
November to March is the window. Phong Nha floods between September and November in a bad year, and some caves close. The Bolaven Plateau is wet from May to October, and the falls are at their most spectacular right at the end of that, in early November.
Getting home from Pakse
Pakse has flights to Vientiane, Bangkok and Siem Reap, but not many of them. Build in a connection with margin, or add a night in Vientiane or Bangkok at the end. We will say which when we see your dates.
Questions travellers ask most
Why not cross into Laos further north, closer to Luang Prabang?
Because the Lao eVisa is not valid at any Vietnam land border, and the northern crossings do not issue visas on arrival. You would need a visa from a Lao embassy before flying, which is possible but adds weeks and a courier.
Lao Bao issues on arrival. That is why the route goes where it goes.
How bad is the seven-hour border day?
It is the hardest day of the trip and we do not pretend otherwise. Three hours to Dong Ha and up Route 9, about an hour at the border in a normal queue, and three hours across the plain to the Mekong.
We break it properly, the vehicle is comfortable, and we do not schedule anything that evening.
Will I see the Irrawaddy dolphins?
Perhaps. The Mekong population has recovered to somewhere above a hundred animals from a low of about eighty, and the pool near Don Khon holds a handful of them.
Anyone who guarantees a sighting is guessing. We put you on the water at the right hour and that is the honest limit of what we can do.
Can I run this in reverse, Laos to Vietnam?
Yes, and the border works the same way, but you would need a Vietnamese eVisa in advance because Vietnam does not issue on arrival at Lao Bao. That is straightforward — USD 25 online, three to five working days.
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