First of all it was impossible to communicate with the operator. It was not replying to my WhatsApp messages. We expected to drive in the same vehicle all the way from Pakse to Ubon but it was no the case. The van from Pakse that picked us up at 9am also picked up other 8 or 9 people from different points.
Bus left 20 minutes late. They did not stop anywhere for a toilet break. There was a toilet on the bus but it was not in a condition to use.
Arrived 1 hour and 30 minutes early.
Seats where very small and bus was really old and dirthy.
Problem with the minivan. We went to a garage to change a piece of the wheel so we waited for hours there with no other solution.
We arrived at Nong Khiaw 3 hours late.
I booked with the most expensive carrier because it was the only one that had individual berths. Two German women I met bought the cheapest carrier for $12 less than I paid and we all were on the same bus by an entirely different carrier. I had to share my berth with another man. The mattress was extremely hard and uncomfortable but the road was smooth and we arrived one and one half hour earlier than expected.
We left Luang Prabang with a 2h delay and we Arrived in Nong Khiaw 2h15min behind schedule (6.15pm instead of 4pm). The driver was opening his window and spitting on the road every 10min, and at some point he stopped and brought a durian in the van, giving a durian smell in the van for the rest of the trip. I had no problem with the spitting nor the durian smell but I saw people being disgusted about that so I am sharing with you to improve. Other than that, the van was clean and the driver was sensible on the road.
A cheap way to get to the waterfall in an air-conditioned small bus - BUT they pack you in. Some of us were sitting on plastic stools and others had to stand for the one-hour journey, so arrive early if you want a proper seat!
the driver was 1 hour to late.to take us to the van. as a result, we have to drive to khiaw with a local bus, that cost 120000kip. we are very frustrated.
Reservation was "instant" confirmation, but did not receive confirmation from the vendor until 9pm (via WhatsApp), twelve hours after making the reservation, and less than 12-hours prior to departure. Pick-up was on-time, there is roughly a one-hour window where the driver picks up all 15-pax and luggage. Drive is rough, 125-miles over cratered and dusty dirt roads. Two stops en route (food/restroom). Arrived "on-time" before 3pm.
Pick up location was not clear. Van was old and overbooked, departed 1.5hrs late. Drive was ok, given road conditions. Van then broke down, requiring a 2hr stop to repair suspension, this 7km from Nong Khiaw - no alternate vehicle was called for the remaining 10minute drive.
The driver overfilled the car and accepted more passengers along the way. There were 6 of us on a row of 3, which felt very dangerous on such unpredictable roads, when questioning the driver they just laughed.
Poor organisation
Bus planned at 8am but the company contacted me the day before to give me the meeting point which was wrong and ended in missing my shuttle. On the way back, no clear sign and no clear indication by the company via WhatsApp that just said “please ask the staff”. I tried to call and had no answer resulting in stress for everyone.
The provider was on time and the driver was clearly experienced, and focused on the road. (Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw transfer)
I was expecting a nightmare after most reviews, so wanted to add my own experience. The van was fully packed with people and luggage (actually we had 1 more person than seats and limited luggage space, which is why I only have 3 stars). When booking you are buying a seat for yourself plus space for one large suitcase. We brought a small carry-on for 2 people and it barely fit. So I do NOT recommend that you travel with a large suitcase!
Otherwise the ride was straightforward. It is a very bumpy road but the driver was on time, did not mess around with his phone and we made it to Nong Khiaw on time. The drive itself was very bumpy but felt safe
No one is able to drive this distance in the time, you say!!! I do not understand, why you don’t adapt the arrival time! No one can reach this!!!
And I can‘t think of any reason, why they drove 2h!!!! in Luang Prabang to collect the people and drive multipel times the same roads!!!
More than 1 hour late at start, almost 2 hour late by drop off. The road are awfull and the van is packed, there's no legspace at all. It at least get you from A to B, but thats it.
In the app: I could not change the pickup location and my comment to the correct pickup location was obviously ignored. Despite a confirmation over whatsapp regarding the pickup, this also didn’t work. Finally we were picked up 30 min late after phoning with an office in thailand.
Support emails at 12Go seem zo not be answered.
The driver apparently didn’t know where we needed to go despite the booking being very clear so we ended up somewhere else and had to again take another car - organized by 12Go - to the final destination. We finally arrived 70min later than planned and after much uncertainty.
The cars were good, clean and comfortable.
Good, we were late as we got a flat (not surprising considering the state of the roads) but they fixed it and the roads were cr*p but they handled them skilfully and safely and prioritised safety over rushing there… the drivers were very good, stops were decent and there were enough, the air con was… basically working 😅 the minivan was full but ok. The private transfers to and from my hotels were very good for the price and very appreciated.
Bus had windows down the whole way lots of dust on the way the road was bad which can not be helped by operators but they need to move around the road over pot holes and if the windows are down alot of dust is inhaled over the
4 1/2 hours
The van made many stops in Luang Prabang for unclear purposes (it wasn't to pick up passengers) and only left Luang Prabang at 10am. Consequently, arrival in Nong Khiaw was 2 hours later than planned.
The driver and vehicle were great. However, they Thai immigration did not allow us to exit. We had to go back to udon for the night and fly to Laos. They say Indian passport is not allowed to exit land border. I was disappointed that RG adventure could not resolve this. Also no way to get support from 12Go. This detour cost me over $1000 and I lost a day.