Originally Posted by
ubontaz
There is a bus you can catch at the Ubon main bus terminal. It runs twice daily and costs 200 baht. It takes about 3 hours or so to get to Pakse. They stop at Chong Mek border crossing and you can get your visa on arrival there. You can pay in US$ or Thai Baht but it is usually cheaper in $. I hope this helps.
It is always cheaper to pay in US$, the exchange rate used is typically awful. Keep in mind this is also one of the few border crossings where you'll be asked for further money to get your visa stamped. You won't be able to get through without paying something additional. Often I've said 'but last time it was only 10 Baht' and they then accepted 10 Baht (rather than $1 or more).
The bus will stop at the border and wait for you to finish the visa process. It's rather easy.
Originally Posted by
lsquare
Thanks for the information! Do you know what the schedule is? I might fly domestically to Ubon from BKK and then just take the bus over.
It's been awhile since I've taken the bus, but I believe the morning one leaves around 8:30 and the afternoon one is at/after 2PM.
Many people are in Ubon only long enough to transit to/from Bangkok/Pakse.
Originally Posted by
CrazyInteg
There's an amazing pad Thai talay food stall on Uppalisan road, just south of the airport. Best pad Thai I have ever had. I once ate there 3 times in one day. I highly reccomend it.
I lived just south of the airport for a few years and am not aware of this place. However, for my money, the food in Ubon is better than any other place in Thailand.... feel free to argue this point.
Originally Posted by
seanthepilot
You mentioned being in BKK at one point in your journey; also Pakse, Vientienne, and Luang Prabang. You also mentioned flying.
You could either fly from BKK to Laos, using the Airpass to see the cities you mentioned. Or you could cross over to Pakse and start the airpass there, stopping in the cities you mentioned and then even back to Thailand, if you wanted.
It's quite the distance from BKK to PKZ, VTE, LPQ etc. I've flown the Luang Prabang - Chiang Mai segment and then continued on to VTE and BKK on the airpass. You must buy a minimum of 3 segments, pick your routing and dates, and the date of the first flight cannot be changed. The Lao Air segments can easily be changed if the space is available, but the Bangkok Air segments for the airpass are often hard to come by.
There is an overnight(12hrs?) sleeper bus between Pakse and Vientiane. There is also a flight between PKZ and VTE (but not daily). The bus between Vientiane and LP is about 10 hours. There are multiple daily flights between the two. There is a flight between PKZ and LPQ maybe 2 days a week.
Unless you have alot of time and are on a budget you might consider flying.