A view from Don Det, just across the border in Laos.
As I researched this trip, one of the most worrying segments was the border crossing from Cambodia to Laos. With Travelfish labeling it a “pain in the posterior,” I was a wee bit apprehensive. But as it turned out, it was a mostly painless experience.
Having heard that visas would not be issued at the border. I got my Laos visa in Saigon, where it took 15 minutes but cost $50. It costs $30 in Phnom Penh if you can wait two days for it to be processed. And as it turns out, within the past month or so Laos began issuing visas-on-arrival at the Dom Kralor border crossing.
Visa in hand, I left Siem Reap at 5:30 on a bus going all the way to Vientiane. Run by Sorya, this bus runs once per day and stops at all the major destinations along the way. My original plan had been to spend the night in Stung Treng in Cambodia, but a quick once-over suggested that it had little to offer. Instead, I stayed on the bus all the way to Don Det, one of the Four Thousand Islands in the Mekong, just north of the border. The total cost was $27 for a 14-hour ride.
At the border crossing, the bus manager demanded our passports and $4 — $1 in bribes for the Cambodians, $2 for the Laotians, and $1 for his “services. This was obviously a bit of a scam, but most of us caved and paid him. A few determined souls carried their own passports and walked from one border to another, and ended up paying a total of only $2 in bribes, er, “stamping fees.”
Once the border was crossed, it was a short ride to the Don Det boat crossing. As we rode across the Mekong at 7 p.m., the sky was covered with stars and the island’s lights were hardly noticeable from the other side of the river. It was an excellent introduction to the rather sleepy island, where the electricity goes off at odd hours. and the main activity on offer is lounging in a hammock.
Written from the road in Vientiane, Laos. Subscribe to my RSS feed for more stories and come back in February for photos!
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Jess, can you absolutely confirm that laos visa on arrival is available at dom kralor border crossing? I want to cross this border tomorrow but don’t have a visa. Did you see any other passengers get visa on arrival there, or how do you know it is possible? Thanks for the information.
Hi Jeff -
I can absolutely confirm that it was available on January 21. At least one passenger on our bus got visa on arrival that evening, although nearly everyone had visas in advance because the change in policy is so recent. There is now a window at the Lao border crossing labeled “visa on arrival” and the bus company in Siem Reap also advertises that it is possible to get visas at the border.
Best of luck!
Thanks. That is really useful information. I hope it’s still the case when I get there in a couple of days. In the meanwhile I am really enjoying the insights in your travel blog.
So Jeff, can you tell us if gettin` the visa was still possible or not?
Thanks
Xav
So Jeff,
can you tell us if getting the visa at the boarder was still possible or not?
Thanks
Xav
Yea, would be sure nice to have confirmation!
Hello, is there any further news as to whether visa on arrival at Dom Kralor is possible? Cheers!
Hi Claire,
I haven’t heard anything more concrete since I saw visas being issued there in January. I’d recommend you check the Thorntree forums on Lonely Planet for more up-to-date info.
Jess
Didn’t see anything straight away on thorntree but found this. Hope it helps. Funny Canadians!
http://www.travelingmark.com/cambodia/laos-visa-on-arrival-cambodia/
Do any of you know whether you can get a visa-on-arrival the other way at Dom Kralor (i.e. from Laos to Cambodia)? Thanks!