rjh

Interesting item from Agence France-Presse carried by the HK Standard paper that an international airport is to be developed in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Also, the airport for Kratie, in the east, is to reopen.

I guess the next step will be for the Lima Site 16 air strip in Vang Vieng, Laos to reopen for air traffic with agitated people milling around wondering about the status of their upgrades and "Are those really fried bats?" in the airport cafe.

jenae

Thanks for the news. Sihanoukville I can understand -- they really are developing the place even more madly than ever before -- but Kratie? Wow. Hard to think of any reason you need to get to Kratie in a hurry (though I do love it there). And it is ironic if the reason for flying in loads of people is to have them take motorboats around the habitat of an endangered species, thus endangering it more. Oh well, at least they didn't try to say that one should be "international."

And as you may know, Vang Vieng isn't so farfetched any more... it's one of the mainstays on the tourist trail, overrun by hotels showing re-runs of "Friends." (Jennifer Aniston and Lima Site 16... not words you expected to be in the same sentence...). Now Lima Site 20, out in Long Cheng, that would be quite a destination... but just watch, 10 years from now, that too will have golf courses. Ok, 15 years.

rjh

As long as Lao Aviation would be doing the runs to Vang Vieng, I don't think we have to worry too much. They might as well paint a big bulls eye on the karst mountains to the east for the pilots to run into. On the other hand, I could see El Al making direct flights from Tel Aviv.

I understand that the VV market got moved. Are they redeveloping the market area? I could see a ecotourism niche there, mixed with floating drunk down the river (and watching pirated DVDs at night at high volume, drinking high volumes of Beerlao).

Maybe some low cost carrier could bring C-130s into Long Cheng. It would bring new meaning to quick turn around if all they did was hot stops.

apoivre

It's nice to see at least this thread hasn't been hijacked like so many others. Would Kasi make a better stop between Louang Prabang and Vientiane? (I'm leaving tomorrow ^ )

rjh

Did you have a particular reason for wanting to stop in Kasi? It's pretty much a bump in the road with some restaurants and a toilet. The buses between VV and LPB stop there.

VV is an ok place to hang out for a while. You can visit the overrated caves or swim in the river. The travellers can be somewhat obnoxious at night, but it's ok. The Saysong guesthouse in what used to be the market was nice for, I think, US$3/night. It has a balcony overlooking the river.

Try the Sayo guesthouse in LPB. Upstairs north corner room.

apoivre

Thanks