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== Personal experiences ==
This article is very accurate in that it is possible to hitch hike from north to south, but be prepared for long waits and dusty walks. The road leading from the Chinese boarder to Luang Prabang is currently undergoing upgrades since 2014 and apparently will be completed by August 2015, however when I passed through in November 2014 it looked a long way off with a majority of the road still dirt. It is possible to stay in Wats even in the north of Lao and I had no problem camping, however in Lao there is a law in which any foreigner staying with or in a local Lao person house must be registered with the local village elder, different person from the police so don't worry. This is to protect both you and your host, all the elder will want is to see your passport and if this doesn't happen you may receive a visit from the police next morning as happened to me on my first night in the north of Lao staying in a Wat, yes even in a Wat they must register you. Apart from that Lao is an amazing country with some very very friendly people.
While being slightly put off by the above comments, I persisted in giving Laos a go. Managed to travel all the way from Huay Xai to Vientiane via hitch hiking (apart from one bus journey from Oudomxay to Pak Mong). Do be prepared to wait at least a couple of hours in some places though! A top tip would be keeping your eyes peeled for Chinese number plates (if you see a rather fancy car coming towards you, it's probably Chinese) - about 80% of my rides were with incredibly helpful Chinese visitors, many of whom also shared food, drinks & ciggies :)
GO FOR IT!!!
'''Experience in April 2016''' --[[User:Z-z-z88|Z-z-z88]] ([[User talk:Z-z-z88|talk]])
Crossed Thai-Lao border at Huai Kon - Muang Nguen. Road to [[Sayabory]] (Xayaboury) have extremely low traffic. Something like 1 car per 20-30 minutes. Be ready to spend 1 day to make 50 km. Getting to Hongsa (Ban Phonsai) is relatively easy, but after this village was about 2-3 cars in 4 hours. But it is easy to go from [[Sayabory]] to [[Luang Prabang]], plenty of cars and trucks.
'''Experience in october 2017'''[[User:indogerm|indogerm]]
'''Experience in September 2019'''
I've entered Laos in Na Meo, Vietnam. No problems with getting the visa on the crossing, got charged 40$ though.
First 10 or so kilometers on Laos side is dirt/mud/clay road, almost 0 traffic BUT there was a dude on a bike and when he saw me we both knew and he gave me a ride. Later on I couldn't complain. I had no letter, no translator, no sign, just my smile #1 and hand signs.
I've hitchhiked from VN border down to 4k islands and back to Thai border close to Pakse. Usually I'd walk along the road and wave everyone down - cars, single riders, trucks. Got rides from all of mentioned. No one asked me for money. Waiting time from 15 minutes to 3 hours, you know the drill. Took bike riders by surprise - when they stopped I'd point at the road, at the bike and sit on the bike before they'd shake the shock off, hahaha. They never protested, took some selfies etc. Average speed for pickups was 60 km/h, 30-40 for bikes and trucks. I had one strange incident, nothing dangerous though - an American dude driving a pickup stopped just to tell me "it's a poor country, you don't hitchhike here" wished me good time and splitted. Besides that hitching in Laos was very uplifting and allowed hours of staring at beautiful Asian mountains, go for it guys.
Laos
,→Personal experiences
'''Laos''' is a country in South East [[Asia]] surrounded by [[China]], [[Vietnam]], [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]] and [[Myanmar|Burma]]. Hitchhiking is fairly uncommon, and sometimes people will expect money. Check out the [[Asia phrasebook#Thai|Thai-Lao phrasebook]] for language pointers.
[[File:Mule-laos.jpg|700px|center|thumb|[[User:Amylin|Amylin]] hitchhiking out of Luang Nam Tha to the border between Laos and [[China]].]]
== How to hitchhike ==
'''if If you raise your thumb people will think you just doing 'like' and dont understand it's mean to stop. for hitch-hike take your hand and 'hit' the air'''
You should be aware that some maps of Laos (Google Maps in particular is one) are not accurate.
== Language: ==
In the '80s a lot of people went to [[Russia]] for their studies, and these are often people who have cars these days, so you might be able to use your Russian skills. English is not very common outside of cities and tourist destinations. Chinese can be used with the Chinese cars/trucks that take hitchhikers more often.
The google translator doesn't offer Lao language for download and offline use, though it can save the sentences when using wifi. Thai can be downloaded and used offline and many people could understand it without major difficulties.
== Personal experiences ==
'''My personal experience''' - This article is very accurate in that it is possible to hitch hike from north to south, but be prepared for long waits and dusty walks. The road leading from the Chinese boarder to Luang Prabang is currently undergoing upgrades since 2014 and apparently will be completed by August 2015, however when I passed through in November 2014 it looked a long way off with a majority of the road still dirt. It is possible to stay in Wats even in the north of Lao and I had no problem camping, however in Lao there is a law in which any foreigner staying with or in a local Lao person house must be registered with the local village elder, different person from the police so don't worry. This is to protect both you and your host, all the elder will want is to see your passport and if this doesn't happen you may receive a visit from the police next morning as happened to me on my first night in the north of Lao staying in a Wat, yes even in a Wat they must register you. Apart from that Lao is an amazing country with some very very friendly people.
'''My personal experienceExperience in July 2015:'''- ''[[User:Laurieking101|Laurieking101]] ([[User talk:Laurieking101|talk]]) 13 November 2015 - While being slightly put off by the above comments, I persisted in giving Laos a go. Managed to travel all the way from Huay Xai to Vientiane via hitch hiking (apart from one bus journey from Oudomxay to Pak Mong). Do be prepared to wait at least a couple of hours in some places though! A top tip would be keeping your eyes peeled for Chinese number plates (if you see a rather fancy car coming towards you, it's probably Chinese) - about 80% of my rides were with incredibly helpful Chinese visitors, many of whom also shared food, drinks & ciggies :)GO FOR IT!!!''
'''Experience in July November 2015:'''--''[[User:Laurieking101Z-z-z88|Laurieking101Z-z-z88]] ([[User talk:Laurieking101Z-z-z88|talk]]) 212 December 2015 - Hitch-hiked from Pakse to Attapeu through Paksong and Sekong (about 200 km). It is was easy to get a car to Paksong, but from Paksong to Sekong was a very few amount of cars and most of them drive short distance 2-40 km. I managed to get to Attapeu, but changed 8 cars. From Attapeu towards Vietnam border (Phou Keua, 2 km away from Cambodia) was extremely small amount of cars. For two hours (morning of working day about 10:00-11:13, 13 November 2015 00) I saw only one truck (Vietnamese) going towards Vietnam and few cars. But there is very cheap bus for 6.5 USD which going deep into Vietnam and sent me to Pleiku (6.5 USD for ride about 250 km). On the mountain road from Laos (Attapeu) - Vietnam (CETPhou Keua)from 11:00 to 14:00 I saw about 10 trucks driving from Vietnam to Laos. So I do not advise to hitch-hike to Vietnam from Attapeu. By the way, local people to the east from Attapeu may speak only Vietnamese.''
'''Experience in November 2015April 2016''' --''[[User:Z-z-z88|Z-z-z88]] ([[User talk:Z-z-z88|talk]]) 07:22, 2 December 2015 (CET)Hitch-hiked from Pakse Crossed Thai-Lao border at Huai Kon - Muang Nguen. Road to Attapeu through Paksong and Sekong [[Sayabory]] (about 200 kmXayaboury)have extremely low traffic. It is was easy to get a Something like 1 car per 20-30 minutes. Be ready to Paksong, but from Paksong spend 1 day to Sekong was a very few amount of cars and most of them drive short distance 2-40 make 50 km. I managed Getting to get to AttapeuHongsa (Ban Phonsai) is relatively easy, but changed 8 cars. From Attapeu towards Vietnam border (Phou Keua, 2 km away from Cambodia) after this village was extremely small amount of cars. For two hours (morning of working day about 10:002-11:00) I saw only one truck (Vietnamese) going towards Vietnam and few 3 carsin 4 hours. But there it is very cheap bus for 6.5 USD which going deep into Vietnam and sent me easy to Pleiku (6.5 USD for ride about 250 km). On the mountain road go from Laos (Attapeu) - Vietnam (Phou Keua) from 11:00 [[Sayabory]] to 14:00 I saw about 10 [[Luang Prabang]], plenty of cars and trucks driving from Vietnam to Laos. So I do not advise to hitch-hike to Vietnam from Attapeu. By the way, local people to the east from Attapeu may speak only Vietnamese.''
'''Experience in November 2016'''- ''I entered Laos in Na Meo at the Lao-Vietnamese border. After I hitchhiked from there to Vientiane and Pakse I wouldn't say this article is very accurate. During my time I didn't have a single lift who wanted to charge me anything. Yeah in remote areas it can be hard to get a life since there is less traffic, but I don't know about the car/calculations above. Laos is an awesome country and hitchhiking is definitely possible!''
'''Experience in october 2017 - '''[[User:indogerm|indogerm]] - ''Entered via [[Boten]] border from china, hitched to [[Vientiane]] to go to thailand straightaway. Maximum of kilometres per day were 200 something, lots of hills and curves. Road is in good to very good shape([[Kunming]] - [[bangkok]] highway, payed by china and thailand and some other). As described above, few cars. Chinese cars normally mean long distance rides, cigarettes and good food. Can also always stop motorcycles, just do some eyecontact and wave them down smiling. Most people dont wear helmets. When approaching pick ups, try signalling them that you want to go in the back when the car is full- lots of them think they cannot offer this to you. Hitching Laos-Totally possible! I always sad "Bo KIP"(no money) before entering, nobody refused to take me. Enjoyed the awesome nature between rides. Dont forget to get rid of your kip before exiting lao-they are shit. All three citys in the nortern part of Lao are tourist shit. Avoid them.''Go for it!''
'''Experience in September 2019''' - ''I've entered Laos in Na Meo, Vietnam. No problems with getting the visa on the crossing, got charged 40$ though.
First 10 or so kilometers on Laos side is dirt/mud/clay road, almost 0 traffic BUT there was a dude on a bike and when he saw me we both knew and he gave me a ride. Later on I couldn't complain. I had no letter, no translator, no sign, just my smile #1 and hand signs. I've hitchhiked from VN border down to 4k islands and back to Thai border close to Pakse. Usually I'd walk along the road and wave everyone down - cars, single riders, trucks. Got rides from all of mentioned. No one asked me for money. Waiting time from 15 minutes to 3 hours, you know the drill. Took bike riders by surprise - when they stopped I'd point at the road, at the bike and sit on the bike before they'd shake the shock off, hahaha. They never protested, took some selfies etc. Average speed for pickups was 60 km/h, 30-40 for bikes and trucks. I had one strange incident, nothing dangerous though - an American dude driving a pickup stopped just to tell me "it's a poor country, you don't hitchhike here" wished me good time and splitted. Besides that hitching in Laos was very uplifting and allowed hours of staring at beautiful Asian mountains, go for it guys.''
== Cities ==
