Any tips on Laos?

[Guest shebavon]

A friend and I will be travelling to Vientienne and Luang Prabang next week.

 

Any suggestions on where to stay, and gay life in general?

 

Thanks

[Gaybutton]

I think you will be pleased with the person with whom I put you in touch. I hope others will also make suggestions.

 

As for getting there, if you're looking for a more inexpensive way to do it, it's a lot less expensive if you fly to Udon Thani. Buses go from the airport to the border crossing at Nong Khai. From there you can pay the fees to enter Laos, clear customs, and another bus will take you across the Friendship Bridge into Laos. On the other side there are tuk-tuks and buses that can take you into Vientiane. It is far less expensive to do it that way than flights from Bangkok to Vientiane and I think also a much more interesting way to do it.

 

Don't forget to obtain a re-entry permit from Immigration before you go.

[Guest fountainhall]

From Luang Prabang, you can also go north by river up the Mekong until you come to the Thai border. From there, you can get a minibus to Chiang Mai This site gives you the routing in reverse -

 

Chiang mai Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos

 

Luang Prabang is one of the loveliest of towns. I was there about 6 years ago and found quite of lot of the guys either gay or gay friendly. The company now called Purple Dragon based in the Tarntawan Hotel in Bangkok used to organise gay nightlife tours. There was not much of it, but it was fun, and my guide was gay!

 

Purple Dragon, Asia's Gay Travel Pioneers

[Gaybutton]

I was there about 6 years ago and found quite of lot of the guys either gay or gay friendly.

You've definitely caught my interest. Can you tell us more details, such as what kind of gay nightlife you did manage to find and where it is, along with where one would go to cruise in Luang Prabang?

[Guest fountainhall]

Can you tell us more details, such as what kind of gay nightlife you did manage to find and where it is, along with where one would go to cruise in Luang Prabang?

Please remember I was there 6 or 7 years ago, and I am sure things have moved on since then. I stayed at a small - then new - guest house right on the banks of the Mekong and a bit north of the Museum - the old Royal Palace. It was run by a lovely Lao architect who had spent more than 20 years in Australia. About 20 meters from the guesthouse there was a small restaurant with tables and bench seats overlooking the river. I had coffee there a couple of times - once at lunchtime on the day I left and the other mid afternoon. Each time there were relatively young guys sitting there, chatting and obviously looking around. One came up to me and said his friend was interested in me. I leave the rest to the imagination!

 

The guesthouse owner (name forgotten) recommended that I have breakfast and dinner at two restaurants just around the corner (slightly to the north) as his little coffee shop had not been completed. Breakfast was divine, with fresh coffee, fresh french-type bread and crepes. Dinner was also very good. Better still, two of the waitersat dinner were obviously gay. Later that evening, I had a gay nightlife tour by motorcycle organised by Purple Dragon. I was mightily surprised when the driver turned out to be one of the boys from the restaurant!

 

Where did we go? All I can recall is one bar which had some gay guys in it, and a rather boring disco which was apparently mixed. The problem was that I was there mid-week and was told that things heated up at the week-ends. When the trip as over, the guide made it clear he wanted to come back with me - but I was just too tired

 

The Purple Dragon guides know where everything is.

 

On a side note, when I was away for a day trip to the Caves up river, Mick Jagger came with his daughter and spent an hour sitting by the river (he had hired a Bangkok Airways plane for a day trip). My guest-house owner walked up to him, introduced himself and said he was sure Jagger would not remember him - accurately! A judo enthusiast, he had been a part-time security guard when the Stones did their last concert in Sydney. At the rehearsal, Jagger had come up to him and asked if he knew where there was any 'pot' be to had in Sydney. He was told, alas not, but the g-h owner said he was a good friend of the Lao Ambassador and could arrange for some to be sent down overnight in the diplomatic bag! Jagger remembered, laughed profusely and insisted my g-h owner join him for coffee and drinks. Pity I was upriver and could not join them!

[Guest]

The Nahm Phu fountain is a good pick up place in Vientiane. Your new acquaintance is likely to know where to find some short time rooms.

Also be sure to visit the GQ bar.

 

Luang Prabang is a really nice town, but there is less evidence of a gay scene. The Lao Lao bar must be visited though (the bar, not the Lao Lao Beer garden, on the other side of the road).

 

There's a useful thread on Ting Tong. Oogleman must take credit for heavily editing my opening post to make it more interesting though.

 

Laos

[Guest blkinkorea31]

Gay button, thanks for the travel info, b/c a friend and I are planning on traveling to Vientaine and Luang Pranbang during the first of May. We were going to take a train from BKK to Nong Kai, however if we can get an affordable flight, it would be best to fly and cut down on travel time. Which carrier offers flights from BKK to Udon Thani?

 

 

Side bar

 

Has anyone flown from Laos to Siem Reap? And which carrier did you use?

[Gaybutton]

Which carrier offers flights from BKK to Udon Thani?

I know Thai Airways and Air Asia have several non-stop flights per day. I've never checked other carriers.

[Guest fountainhall]

Nok Air also fly Bangkok to Udon Thani.

 

Never flown between Laos and Siem Reap. Both Lao and Cambodian Airlines have it on their schedules but Cambodian seems to be a code share and the aircraft is a Lao Airlines plane.

[Guest shebavon]

Thank you for all the good tips.

 

I guess for accommodations, use one of the listed hotels, at $50 per room per night for a 2 or 3 star, not too bad. If I have any amorous luck, it will be up to him to provide.

[Guest pgsp]

I was there about 3-4 years ago and had a very nice tour guide named Douk. He has a profile on gaydar: Gaydar Users Page

 

He may still be doing tours.

 

Here's a pic of him on a boat on the Mekong going to and the coming up

on the entrance to Budda Cave.

[Guest]

The Merry Swiss is just up from the Lao Lao bar. $40 a night. Nice rooms, but the bathroom layout was very poor.

 

The Phou Si guesthouse had rooms for $20~25, with more basic bedrooms but superior bathroom.

 

The Viayvanh Guesthouse was only about 100,000 a night (

[Guest ethan1066]

this thread turn out to be a good help to me..thanks for all the info shared here...

[Guest beachlover]

I've been thinking of going to Laos along with Isaan for a while now.

 

Is there much gay nightlife in Luang Prabang? Any gay bars or clubs to meet cute gay boys (not moneyboys)?

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I guess some people won't take any hint about the old post..oh well!!

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I was wondering if I were the only one to notice that.

[Guest beachlover]

I guess some people won't take any hint about the old post..oh well!!

 

I think May is just within the 3-month period (although, if you look at the specific dates involved it isn't). I actually wanted to comment on some of the older posts on other countries, which are interesting, but will refrain from doing so... or maybe wait until the competition's over. It's a pretty sparse forum so should really be an issue, I think. You can still see all the recent threads on the same page.

[Guest]

There's very little information on gay life in Laos on the net.

 

Therefore if someone visits Laos and finds some fantastic new venues, I very much hope they DO post this on the existing Laos thread. That way we maintain one information resource.

 

Incidentally, I like the way Gay Ting Tong has a dedicated "Other Asian Countries" forum, with pinned threads for each country.

 

I would like to propose single country threads as an exception to the 3-month rule.

Ideally, these threads would have non-informative posts removed after a short period of time. That ensures any potential visitor to Laos can assimilate the information without having to wade through the rest of it.

 

That would include the removal of this post of mine & the preceding 4.

 

The Lao Lao bar is gay owned & I did leave there with one local guy, who was in his late thirties. He asked for the equivalent of about £4, I told him to ask for more.

[Guest MonkeySee]

My Luang Prabang experience was more than five years ago. I found nothing organized but was able to use my gaydar to find a young man. I was not able to take him back to my hotel but he knew of guesthouse we could go. If you use your eyes and smile, then I think you will meet many new friends. Luang Prabang is worth a visit, even if you do not find a new gay friend.

[Guest]

Luang Prabang

 

For reference, the following Google Map coordinates give you the location of the Lao Lao sport bar. Gay owned, but by no means exclusively gay.

19.88938,102.138472

Across the road, the Lao Lo garden is worth a visit just to see the waiters.

 

The following sauna is very straight, but is worth a mention for it's rustic charm. Look out for a sign on Th Sisavangvong then the sauna is in a back alley, around the corner & up some wooden steps. No frills. Bamboo, wood, steam room & cold water to cool off. Think I have more or less got the location.

19.892203,102.138052 1 Male masseur & remainder are female.

 

Vientiane

Nahm Phu fountain is a good pick up place, plenty of locals after about 8:00 pm.

Also, the GQ bar should be visited.

[Guest MonkeySee]

In Vientiane, I had the good fortune to meet many cool guys at the restaurant and beer bars along the river. One guy I flirted with and smiled at, surprised me by following me out of the bar. He was very masculine and I had no idea he was gay. We had a great time.

[Guest brandon]

I am off to Vientiane next week - been many times and will report when I return.

[Guest brandon]

Got back from Vientiane this week.

 

Had booked the gay-owned Dragonlodge as recccomended by a friend. Absolute dump, filthy. The only good thing about it is that it's very Central. Anyway, I checked out and booked in the Vayakorn Guesthouse which was just fine and clean, and gay friendly when I brought in a friend.

 

Daytime is fun just strolling around the city with lots of restaurants, cafes and bars. Joma bakery seems to be a favourite amongst tourists and NGO's. Scandinavian Bakery is also good for breakfast. The morning market is Ok and can be cruisy.

 

Sauna - On Rue Chao Anou, between the temple and the river is a small sign saying 'Sauna'. Interesting with some young Lao men early evening. Showers are all open so can't be too shy and you soon find out who is interested, unless you're like me at 185lbs.

 

Massage places - 2 are great: Vilaypone Massage which is up the road from Silapa restaurant, a few boys for a full job well done. Heng Heng massage which is on Rue Asean (soi 10) has many very handsome boys and opens from 9.30 to 22.00. Both have facilities which are very basic, but reasonably clean and all masseurs I tried were happy to oblige. You will also find other massage places which have masseurs, but not sure you can get a happy ending.

 

Nightlife - Early evening meets at Kob Chai Deu near Nam Phou fountain, after 10.30 SD or Soradith Hotel disco (10 mins by tuk tuk) is packed at weekends with lots of gays and friends. Very easy to go up to someone and ask them for a drink, and then you're in.

later on, the Don Chan Palace Hotel disco is mixed, packed and fun. Maybe not as easy to pick up but you may want to do that at Soradith Disco.

GQ bar was dead on all 4 nights I went in. The gay owners are nice enough, but have a small clientele of old farangs, and only one or two freelancers I saw.

 

Lao food is similar to Isaan food so of no interest to me, but there are many Italian, French, Indian and local places to eat. One is Cave des chateau on Nam Phou, and le Central which I was told is gay owned.

 

The whole place is so cheap, it reminded me of Thailand 15 years ago. Vientiane is neither Bangkok or Pattaya but is somewhere a bit different, quiet but can be lots of fun. Lao boys can be very handsome indeed!

[Guest bigcherries]

Thank you for sharing the tips!

[traveller123]

Air Asia will start flights Don Mauang to Luang Prabang from March 24th 2016 which means you can now get a much more affordable flight when compared with Bangkok Airways or the Lao Airline.

 

I have booked to go with my partner but there is still very little info on the internet about gay bars etc. They are not essential for our visit but if they are around it would be nice to support them for a few drinks.

 

Has anyone any up to date info?

 

I was last there about 10 years and I'm looking forward to going back,