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Old Mar 14, 2009 | 3:08 pm
  #11  
Bowgie
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Originally Posted by donlind
Consider Chiang Rai instead of Mai, and in Laos look at Luang Prabang.
This is a good suggestion, as are Rusty C's comments in a following post.

Nothing wrong with going to Chiang Mai per se. It's just farther away from Laos than Chiang Rai, and you will probably go thru Chiang Rai anyway by bus on your way to Laos.

The normal route is bus from Chiang Rai to the small Thai border town on the Mekong. From the Lao town on the opposite side, you can catch a two-day slow boat ride to Luang Prabang. Book a Bangkok Airways flight from Luang Prabang to Bangkok to complete your trip connections. This is a common trip that is well-described in the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum.

In Chiang Rai, definitely hire a taxi for the day to go see the royal gardens formally a residence of the King's mother, which are north of the city near Burma.
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