Getting There & Away
There are flights from Vientiane's Wattay airport to Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar (Burma) and Kunming in China. There is a US$10 departure tax.

It is now legal for non-Thai foreigners to cross the Mekong into Laos at the following points: Nong Khai (near Vientiane), Chong Mek (near Pakse), Nakhon Phanom (opposite Tha Khaek), Chiang Khong (opposite Huay Xai) and Mukdahan (opposite Savannakhet). Boarder crossings are open between 6am and 6pm. Use of the Friendship Bridge spanning the Mekong at Nong Khai is hampered by controls on foreign-registered vehicles, but individual travellers should experience nothing more harrassing than a slight delay. It's possible to cross to or from Vietnam via Lao Bao or Kuen Neua if you have a valid visa. It may also be possible to cross into Cambodia at the border town of Voen Kham, in Champasak Province. Entry to Laos is also possible from China's Yunnan Province at Boten.

Getting Around
It is now possible to travel to every province in Laos by some form of public road transport. Regular buses ply Rte 13 between Luang Prabang and Savannakhet. Other routes in the South, eg, Pakse to Sekong, typically use flat-bed trucks mounted with carriages and seats. The alternative mode of getting around is river transport. The main thoroughfares are the Mekong, Nam Ou, Nam Khan, Nam Tha, Nam Ngum and Se Don. With the increase in road travel, river passenger services are declining year by year, but you can still catch long-distance ferries (called heua duan, express boats, not to be confused with the extremely fast heua wai, speed boats) between Huay Xai and Vientiane. For shorter trips it's usually best to hire a river taxi or, in the upper Mekong, a speedboat.

There are a few taxis in the larger towns, plenty of three-wheeled motorcycles and, for shorter distances, pedicabs. Bargaining skills will be required. Small 100cc motorbikes can be rented in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet. Bicycles can be rented in Vientiane, Savannakhet, Don Khong and Luang Prabang.