Asia - Laos, Seoul, Beijing

Hi,
I'm new to the forums here so please bear with me if I ask some truly stupid questions.

I'm trying to do a three stop tour picking up various family members along the way. I've been poking around trying to plan out an itinerary for the trip starting in Laos at Luang Prabang and the environs for a week, then to Seoul to visit family for a few days, and on to China for another week and a half (Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai).

Now, I have a few questions if anyone's up for answering them:

1) I'll be travelling at the end of August which is Laos's rainy season. Anyone been there at that time and is that a really bad idea? How hard is it really to get around?

2) Flying from Kimpo to Beijing I seem to have to make three stops? Kimpo to Pusan to Qingdao to Beijing on a combination of Korean Air and China Air. Does this make sense? is there a better way to go about doing this?

3) What's the best way to get around inside China from Beijing to Xi'an to Shanghai? Air? Rail?

and finally, does anyone have a recommendation of how best to go about getting the tickets for this trip? I have three family members all converging to meet me in Korea and I need to synch up everyone's schedules and destinations since they've decided I'm to be the family travel agent...

Any help would be appreciated. Also if anyone's familiar with Laos, any recommendations on where to go where to stay? (Rough Guide only gets me so far, you know?)

Thanks!

Your error is that you or however made the reservation used SEL (Kimpo) as the departure airport. SEL(Kimpo) is a domestic only airport thus the stop at Pusan etc. For international departures from Seoul you must use the new Inchon(ICN) airport and you will get a direct nonstop to Beijing(PEK)

ohhh... thanks. :)

3) What's the best way to get around inside China from Beijing to Xi'an to Shanghai? Air? Rail?


Air travel is your best bet for traveling within China. China Southern Airlines would be at the top of my list for getting around. You will find that their service and airline quality give any U.S. carrier a run for their money. Air China, China Eastern, and Hainan Airlines would come next on my preference list, in that order. Air China might be the least expensive option and is certainly not a shabby carrier in their own right.

Air China and China Eastern fly the most routes (I think it is dominated by China Eastern) from Xi'an (XIY) to Shanghai (SHA). Either way, flying in China can be very rewarding and save a lot of time. Best of luck with your journey. Have a great time!

Oh, and welcome to FlyerTalk :D

You might also gain info on the lonely planet.com thorn tree site,Laos can be a problem traveling during rainy season as small prop aircraft are used,if going by road ,trips can be long

Alexrabi has you covered on the multiple stops problem. Flying out of Incheon (ICN) should give you plenty of nonstops to Beijing. ICN is also a beautiful airport, worth a visit just for the sake of it. Coaches (busses) into Seoul aren't that expensive, either, about $12/pax vs. $30 for busses into Tokyo from NRT.

Just a thought, not sure if it will work or if it's practical for you. Buy your long-haul tix to Thailand, then get side roundtrips up and back from Laos. Have your family members in Laos start a Laos-BKK roundtrip on the return leg of your ticket (saving their return leg for the end of the trip). Then buy your medium-haul intra-Asia tix ex-BKK, because Thailand has among the lowest fares in the world as an origination point. (In other words, a JFK-BKK-JFK roundtrip will be more expensive than a BKK-JFK-BKK roundtrip on the same flights.) Try to find a travel agent in Bangkok if you're not getting good fares on the web. Charlie Connection Travel (google them) has found good fares for me on flights that seemed unavailable online. It's kind of a pain because you have to email them and wait for a response, but they usually respond within a day or less. If searching online, the "Travelocity" of Asia is www.zuji.com, which often has good fares. You have to select a location; when the originating location is not an option, I select Singapore and run the search anyway, which still generates results (sometimes priced in SGD, sometimes in USD).

The timing of your trip looks fortuitous for you to join a little FlyerTalk gathering in Seoul. FTers from around the world are considering meeting for the Heart 'n Seoul Do on US/Canada Labor Day weekend 2005 (Sept. 2-5), in Seoul/Incheon Korea. Check this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=441412) for more info and updates.

Your error is that you or however made the reservation used SEL (Kimpo) as the departure airport. SEL(Kimpo) is a domestic only airport thus the stop at Pusan etc. For international departures from Seoul you must use the new Inchon(ICN) airport and you will get a direct nonstop to Beijing(PEK)



That's not exactly correct. Gimpo(Kimpo) is GMP. SEL covers both Gimpo(Kimpo)-GMP and Incheon-ICN. Obviously it's not his/her error. More likely CRS's problem. BTW, Gimpo isn't a domestic only airport because it has flights to Tokyo-Haneda.

I can only comment on the intra-China part of your trip.

I would also fly these sectors, but the train can be ok as well as long as you book the most expensive ones (z trains).

I agree CZ is a notch above the others serving PEK-XIY. For XIY-SHA, I would argue FM is better (those guys really impressed me during my last trip). HU can be miserable.

All that said, don't stress too much about airlines. Price and schedule are more important considerations.

Just some clarification. Since Incheon (ICN) airport opened, Korea dropped using SEL. SEL used to refer Kimpo airport. Kimpo is now known to Gimpo and changed GMP. GMP mainly serves as domestic airport but do have some "shuttle" flight (KE, OZ, JL, NH) to Haneda.
I am not quite sure why you need to make GMP to Busan, and then make a connection to Qingdao and Beijing. Busan does serve international flights but freqeuncy is very limited. Also, you need to go to international terminal because GMP to Busan flight will arrive at domestic airport.