Entry point from Thailand via Nong Khai — the capital, and the first stop of a short but dense Laos leg over New Year's.
A short hop north from Vientiane — known for its karst-limestone scenery, and the stop that carried the trip through to the New Year before continuing on toward Vietnam.
A UNESCO World Heritage former royal capital — temples, the Mekong riverfront, and the well-known morning alms-giving ceremony, reached north from Vang Vieng.
Gateway to the Plain of Jars, a UNESCO World Heritage site — thousands of massive stone jars of unclear origin scattered across the Xiangkhouang plateau. The last Laos stop before the bus onward into Vietnam.
November–February is dry season, noticeably cooler — avoid March–May, the hot season before the rains arrive. This trip ran late December into early January, squarely in the good window.
Patuxay — the "Lao Victory Gate" — a monument to those who fought for the country's independence.
The one genuine splurge of the whole Southeast Asia run: a hot-air balloon ride, drifting from the south of Vang Vieng to the north of the city, taking in the karst limestone landscape and the Nam Xong river from above.
A detour out to see the Plain of Jars, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 2019) — thousands of megalithic stone jars scattered across the Xiengkhuang plateau, one of the more genuinely rare stops on the whole trip.
A last Mekong River sunset cruise closed out 2023 — "the sun never sets," per the trip's own note on it. The onward journey used the Laos-China Railway before the overland crossing into Vietnam.
That the one real splurge of the entire Southeast Asia run happened in the country budgeted the least attention. Laos was mostly a connective stretch — a week between Thailand and Vietnam, a couple of hostel bookings that didn't even go to plan cleanly. And then, almost as an aside, a hot-air balloon ride over Vang Vieng's karst landscape, and a genuine UNESCO rarity in the Plain of Jars — two of the most striking things on the whole trip, tucked into what was meant to be the quiet middle chapter.
Plans shifted more than once here — one no-show, one late cancellation.
It was the one genuine splurge of the whole Southeast Asia run, and worth it.
The Vietnam e-visa needed to already be in hand before the Nam Kan crossing was even possible.