Well , I had a great trip to Laos – officially known as The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). I’m not sure if I mentioned that Laos is a communist country, but it was no problem to get in and there seems to be a thriving free market there as well. There is poverty in the country but I would not call it destitute.
The trip started last Wednesday night when I met Ben, Jularat (aka Judy) ,Wayne, and Pariyanuch (aka Bee) at our office building - Judy and Bee are Ben and Wayne’s wives. We rented a van with a driver who was a former Thai marine – his wife went along as well. We left Bangkok about 9:00 PM and headed north.
The trip started last Wednesday night when I met Ben, Jularat (aka Judy) ,Wayne, and Pariyanuch (aka Bee) at our office building - Judy and Bee are Ben and Wayne’s wives. We rented a van with a driver who was a former Thai marine – his wife went along as well. We left Bangkok about 9:00 PM and headed north.
Google Maps
Our trip itinerary took us to Nongkhai in northern Thailand, which is on the Thai/Laotian border and from there to Vientiane, Laos.
On the way up we could not see a lot since it was nighttime, but we did run into some really bad traffic due to a two day holiday on Thursday/Friday and due to an overturned bus by the side of the highway.
Our driver was fast and aggressive, but with expert reflexes. In the heavy traffic he started driving on the shoulder of the highway. We probably spent an hour or two driving on the shoulder. When not in heavy traffic he drove quite fast – sometimes about 80-85 miles per hour. I felt it was better not to look out the windshield but some of my friends were pretty uncomfortable with the driving style and did not sleep very well. I will say that had we had a lesser driver our ten hour trip would probably have been closer to fifteen hours.
When we reached Nongkhai we knew we would need our visas processed (you should see the cool Cambodian and Laotian visas in my passport).
On the way up we could not see a lot since it was nighttime, but we did run into some really bad traffic due to a two day holiday on Thursday/Friday and due to an overturned bus by the side of the highway.
Our driver was fast and aggressive, but with expert reflexes. In the heavy traffic he started driving on the shoulder of the highway. We probably spent an hour or two driving on the shoulder. When not in heavy traffic he drove quite fast – sometimes about 80-85 miles per hour. I felt it was better not to look out the windshield but some of my friends were pretty uncomfortable with the driving style and did not sleep very well. I will say that had we had a lesser driver our ten hour trip would probably have been closer to fifteen hours.
When we reached Nongkhai we knew we would need our visas processed (you should see the cool Cambodian and Laotian visas in my passport).
Laotian Visa Stamp
(Image from Backpacking Tips Asia)
(Image from Backpacking Tips Asia)
But, something slightly odd happened before we actually got to the border. We were in Nongkhai about to go to breakfast when our driver stopped on a side street, he asked for our passports and gave them to a policeman who seemed to be waiting for us on the street. We were not yet at the border so it seemed strange to me that we had to hand over our passports at this point. Our driver told us that the visas needed to be processed and we would get them back on the Laotian side. In addition we had to pay 1,500 baht each for our visas plus 800 baht to get the vehicle across. We coughed up the money and passports and headed for breakfast.
After breakfast we went to the border and went through immigration. We only had to wait a little while and had no problems. As promised, we got our passports back (with the cool stamps) and drove into Laos. In retrospect, the visa cost seemed high to me and I wonder if it was for “expedited” processing at immigration and customs.
Oh, I forgot. As a surprise we also found out we had a guide – a flamboyantly gay Laotian man who was to be our constant companion for the next three days. His name was Rung, and he proved to be worth the fee he charged, 500 baht for three days.
We drove to Vientiane (pronounced vee-in-chon) from the border which was about a 15 minute trip. We immediately drove to the hotel, checked in, and took a two hour nap. We were quite tired due to the overnight trip from Bangkok. About noon, Rung guided us to a restaurant – open air with traditional Thai/Lao food – and we spent a pleasant hour eating. There was a papaya salad that was extremely spicy and I knew better than to eat it because I have eaten it before. However, Wayne did not know and bit into it and suffered for it. Even Jularat thought it was too spicy.
The afternoon was spent sightseeing and visiting temple after temple after temple. That evening we went out to eat and I split a pizza with Wayne. Since we were all pretty tired we went back to they hotel the name of which was the Don Chan Palace. It was a nice and comfortable hotel and billed itself as the only five star hotel in Vientianne. Finally we all turned in pretty early.
Tomorrow : Highway 13 to Vanvieng
After breakfast we went to the border and went through immigration. We only had to wait a little while and had no problems. As promised, we got our passports back (with the cool stamps) and drove into Laos. In retrospect, the visa cost seemed high to me and I wonder if it was for “expedited” processing at immigration and customs.
Oh, I forgot. As a surprise we also found out we had a guide – a flamboyantly gay Laotian man who was to be our constant companion for the next three days. His name was Rung, and he proved to be worth the fee he charged, 500 baht for three days.
We drove to Vientiane (pronounced vee-in-chon) from the border which was about a 15 minute trip. We immediately drove to the hotel, checked in, and took a two hour nap. We were quite tired due to the overnight trip from Bangkok. About noon, Rung guided us to a restaurant – open air with traditional Thai/Lao food – and we spent a pleasant hour eating. There was a papaya salad that was extremely spicy and I knew better than to eat it because I have eaten it before. However, Wayne did not know and bit into it and suffered for it. Even Jularat thought it was too spicy.
The afternoon was spent sightseeing and visiting temple after temple after temple. That evening we went out to eat and I split a pizza with Wayne. Since we were all pretty tired we went back to they hotel the name of which was the Don Chan Palace. It was a nice and comfortable hotel and billed itself as the only five star hotel in Vientianne. Finally we all turned in pretty early.
Tomorrow : Highway 13 to Vanvieng
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