ticketing

Can anyone advise me of a travel agent in UK who can and will book flights with Lao airlines ?

ticketing

Not sure but after being warned off the Laoair European agent by postings on TA I booked e.tickets on line on the official site :

www.laoairlines.com you can recognise it by the waterfall at the header.

Note :-it only works on microsoft explorer NOT netscape or Firefox.

I booked and paid on line , received e.ticket and confirmation by return with a link to Amadeus to check my flight details.

It worked a treat but although the status is shown as ';confirmed'; I always reconfirm my flights 48 hours in advance in case of time changes.

Our flight was a delight - brand new aircraft ,lovely service and great SMILES.

Enjoy Laos - we have been back only 2 weeks and already planning our return.

ticketing

Thanks. That is probably why I can%26#39;t raise them. Any special tips for Lao? Should I take any gifts for the children?

We were only in Vientiane and Luang Prabang and did not go to any villages with the opportunity to visit schools etc.

In past ,when visiting India and Burma,we have always taken school materials and given them , and maybe some cash , to the schoolmaster for use within the school. Much better than giving pens to kids on the street , that encourages begging.

Suggest you post the question on the forum.

We found the Lonely Planet very useful and you may find my detailed posts on the Green Park Vientiane and the Villa Santi Resort , Luang Prabang of use as they both have ';things we did'; sections.

If you have the time, arrange to visit a school or orphanage. A lot of places have a ';wish list'; and tehy can tell you what they need most. Handing out items at random indeed encourages begging, and is not advised. You can buy things at the market there, which will help the local businesses, instead of bringing stuff with you from home. It is also much less expensive, and you won%26#39;t have to schlep the items in your suitcase with you.

The ';Stay Another Day'; project is interesting. Its website is

stayanotherday.org/country/laos/introduction

and will point you in the direction of several worthwhile projects which need support.

The Makphet restaurant in Vientiane, as well as being the face of ther street kids project provided truly excellent food when we went there in Feb 2007.