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Spice
up your tours
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| Students
learning to cook Lao cuisine |
Attentive
readers of our newsletter have started to book the foot reflexology
options as well as the trekking options we introduced late last year. The
foot reflexology clients came out very relaxed, and the trekking clients
were tired but happy. We are now expanding our options and are offering
cooking classes in Luang Prabang. The dishes will be prepared according to
recipes of the Royal Lao Cuisine. The best option is a half-day morning
class (approximately 09:00 - 13:00), which includes shopping at the market
to preparing and eating a minimum of four dishes. The more people there
are, the more dishes will be prepared and eaten! The lessons can be
organised for as little as two people and cost from 20 USD per pax.
Private classes can be arranged on request. Lunch and drinks are included.
Please contact us at laos@exotissimo.com for
more details.
From
Laos to Thailand by bus
In
April, Laos and Thailand will begin offering public bus services that will
carry tourists across the Lao-Thai border. Initial routes will run from
Vientiane to Thailand's Nong Khai and Udon Thani Provinces in 30 minutes
and one hour, respectively. To use the buses, traveller much have their
visa, passports and other travel documents. Officials have expressed an
interest in adding more routes between Ubon Ratchathani and Paske and
Vientiane and Bangkok or Khon Kaen.
More
accommodations
The future
5-star Sun Park Hotel in Vientiane has been renamed Done Chan
Hotel. Completion is planned for the last quarter of 2004.
The Villa
Muang Khong on Khong Island expanded with six more rooms in February,
bringing the total number of rooms at the villa to 32.
Exotissimo
is opening an eco-lodge two hours upriver from Luang Prabang and a 30
minute boat ride from the Pak Ou Caves. The lodge is based on a camp
concept with 20 twin-bedded tents blending into the vegetation under an
additional thatched roof. Each tnet has an attached (solid) bathroom and
solar-powered warm water. Settled on a ridge overlooking a blend in the
Mekong, the lodge and its adjacent rice fields will provide a peaceful
retreat for a night or two. The lodge will be sold as a package which
includes full board meals, the boat trip and some optional activities.
Visa
updates
At the ASEAN
Tourism Forum (ATF) in Vientiane, officials from Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam began discussing plans for the establishment of a new
visa free policy that would allow their citizens to travel to ASEAN
countries without having to apply for a visa. The visa-free agreement may
be taken into effect as early as next year, when officials announce their
plans at ATF 2005 in Langkawi. Also under discussion is the possibility of
a 'smart card' that would be used in lieu of a passport. Many officials at
the forum also stressed the need for standardisation of visa policies and
procedures for nationals not from ASEAN nations.
Foreign tourists
and businesspeople can now apply for a visa-on-arrival at the Vientiane
International Airport, the Friendship Bridge and the airport in Luang
Prabang. They will need to supply two passport photos and a fee.
Beginning 1st
July, nationals from Laos and Vietnam can travel between the two countries
for 30 days without needing to apply for a visa. Passports must be valid
for at least six months
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