Laos High Speed Train - Luang Prabang to Vientiane in First Class

Today we travel on the Laos China Railway from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in First Class.

Although the journey only takes less than 2 hours there is a lot of preparation to go into this. You can only buy tickets 3 days before and only using the app if you have a Laos phone number. You can buy from the ticket Offices downtown, 12GoAsia or Baolau or just get your hotel to buy them for you.

All of the stations are outside the main City and roads are not good so your estimated time may be different dependent on who you ask. But before you get there you need to consider any items that are not allowed to be taken on the train. The list is ridiculous and extensive. This is another level above airport security and as this is run by a Chinese contractor you may be subject to bribes.

They will take away aerosols, knives, tweezers, scissors, vapes and you will have to pay a bribe to get them back. We used a company called HAL and shipped the items for a cost of $2 to Vientiane and picked them up from the offices.

This is the luck of the draw. Coming early seemed to mean there was less chance of being pulled but I was asked to stop filming by security as I inadvertently caught them doing nothing.

And don't think you will get any peace and quiet here. All you get is constant announcements in various languages...all the time.

The train and stations only take cash in Dollars, Kip or Baht. Remember in Laos all notes must be clean and free from rips or folds. The train also only took cash. The journey was pleasant but there were a lot of tunnels so not the most picturesque. The train itself is clean, pleasant and comfortable and better than the 8 hour journey by road.

We organized for a pick up by our hotel at the station and that made our lives considerably easier as it is a bit chaotic when you leave.

Overall it was a pleasant journey but the threat of having your items removed by Chinese security and having to deal with bribes leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

It wouldn't stop us from doing it again but we would definitely use HAL to ship our items between stations if we had more than 3 days at the next location.

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Video Chapter

00:00 Introduction
00:45 Arriving at the Station
01:30 Buying Tickets
03:35 How long does it take to get to the Station in Luang Prabang
04:37 K, C and D Trains
07:05 Airport Style Security
09:07 Shipping your banned items through HAL
12:37 The Station
14:37 We made it onboard
16:27 And we are off
16:50 Loo Review
17:46 Arriving into Vientiane
18:48 We get to the Crown Plaza Vientiane
19:17 Reviewing the Journey
22:20 Reviewing exiting the Station
25:34 A couple more tips
26: 58 Thanks for Watching

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