Baolau came through promptly and fully in securing my LCR ticket
Impossible for a foreigner to book a ticket in advance or online for the Laos-China Railway (LCR) without a third-party service provider. I did my diligence on Baolau prior to using their service. All reviews were positive …as was my experience. The voucher Baolau provided by email still needs to be turned into a ticket at the train station. Or, as I did, in advance at the sole LCR ticket office in Vientiane (note: only open 8am to noon; they charge a modest service fee of 20,000 kip to do so). I notice there is also an LCR office in Luang Prabang.