This post is also available in:
Italiano (Italian)
I had long had a trip to Laos and Cambodia on my list. In fact, they were two countries I had sampled on a trip to Thailand in 2015. In Laos, I had even been just 30 minutes, just long enough to check out a little market during a tour that landed us in the country at the point where the Mekong River divides Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.
In Cambodia, on the other hand, I had been able to enjoy the wonderful site of Angkor, but I wanted to go back there to see the worst of that country as well, namely the evidence of the regime that killed millions of people in the 1970s.
I went alone, in January 2025 and for a total of 13 nights; but with practically 4 days of travel to get there and back, plus a half day for internal travel between Laos and Cambodia. In both countries you cannot get there directly from Italy.
Travel to Laos and Cambodia, planning mistake
The months leading up to the trip were very intense: work-wise; because of my mother’s health problems; because of starting to write this blog. So also due to lack of time I neglected the planning of the trip by relying too much on the famous paper guidebook that, like many, I usually take. I did not compare it enough with other sources, and because of that I got the itinerary wrong.
The guidebook was out of date; as happens to especially less touristy destinations. But a lot had changed in recent years, especially that Laos was no longer the isolated country with inconvenient and long internal connections. The Chinese within a couple of years had built a modern and efficient rail network, and this, in addition to changing the country, would be determinant for my itinerary choice.
I discovered this only shortly before I left, when I had already booked accommodations. The printed guidebook had other serious inaccuracies that later gave me organizational problems.
Had I known about the railroad earlier, I would have chosen a route with more nature (now more easily accessible) and less time in the cities.
These were my stages:
- Vientiane
- VangVieng
- Luang Prabang
- NongKhiaw on the NamOu
- Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
On my google maps the map.
Prologue Alternative New Year’s Eve
Something that seemed brilliant to me but, if it disappointed my expectations, it was not only because of me, it was the day before departure.
The flight was from Malpensa at 1 p.m. on January 1. At that time with resounding problems with the Italian rail network, I would not have trusted leaving at dawn the same day. Spending the night of the 31st in Milan would have been a bloodletting, sad as well. I found a
It had been at least 20 years since I had done such a thing, and I fantasized that I would find some other travelers like me. By the way, in the budget I had not considered the 10 euro shuttle to get to the hotel anyway and the deposit of almost 100 at the airport for dress and shoes that I certainly could not have brought with me to Laos.
But more importantly, taking out the DJ’s two companions, his colleagues from a private radio station, I found that I could have been the father of 98 percent of the participants. They put me at the table with these two, who were disinclined to dialogue. For the rest were tables of 20-year-olds who knew each other. For goodness sake a few twentysomethings in their twenties are not a bad sight, but when I think that in third place among the acceptable songs were ex equo the 4 (four!) of 883 that I detest; you will understand why I went to bed very early.
First lessons learned from the trip to Laos and Cambodia
- Never trust a single source for travel planning
- I’m old for dinner parties
In this article, the trip I took to Thailand and part of Cambodia: Trip to Thailand and Cambodia: Buddhist temples, stray dogs, and a female lawyer
Next stop Visiting Vientiane and accommodations in Laos.
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Countries visited in my travel stories
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.