Blogs from Pakbeng, West, Laos, Asia

One has to cross upstream, higher up, to come downstream properly… ~ Lao Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling southeast from Chiang Khong (Thailand) to Pak Beng(Laos). We woke early (5:30am) to catch the sunrise and prepare for an early morning border crossing into Laos. We headed down to the breakfast area of our guesthouse (which was located on the river bank) and settled at a long thin bar table overlooking the Mekong. We helped ourselves from the Bain Marie, piling our plates with stir-fried chicken, stir-fried pork, fried rice and fried eggs. I also enjoyed a small bowl of banana and yoghurt, which was very welcome – it was the first yoghurt I’d tried since arriving in Thailand. Unfortunately, the weak tea and orange cordial weren’t terribly appetising at 7am, and nor was the ... read more

We had a bit of a panic earlier (not ours), when we were halfway to the border and David realised that he had left his satchel behind at the hotel and all of his money, passports etc, was in it. Panic and confusion reigned for a few minutes until he made certain that he had actually left his bag behind and that we would have to go back and get it. Luckily, our driver could speak English so, communication wasn’t a problem and he was soon on the phone to the hotel to confirm that David’s satchel was indeed there. David thought that he had left it on the bed in their room. We waited for a couple of minutes and, relief came when the hotel staff confirmed that they had found it. A quick text ... read more

This morning started sharp at 6am being picked up by minibus along with Jenna, annalene, Erica and Katya - a lady from Germany. After picking up two more people we were on our way to Chiang khong which is on the border with Laos. 3hrs of driving we arrived at the border, got our passports exit stamped, got a farewell hug from the driver and got on a bus to take us to the Laos border. A few hundred yards down the road we parted with 36 US dollars ( normally 35 but because its Sunday its 36!) 2 passport photos, 2 forms filled out got our passports stamped and our visas and we were officially in Laos! Next stop for the day was in the back of a pickup truck and we were driven to ... read more

evening! Yesterday was the day we left Thailand and headed for Laos. Breakfast was at 7 and then we left about 0745. We drove through the village in our large tuk tuk,, stopped off at the 7/11 for water and scooby snax and then headed for the border. Silly me had mislaid my exit paper work for leaving Thailand, but they gave me a new exit form to complete so I could leave the country. Once through the Thai side of the border we had to pile in a bus complete with purple curtains and accessories lol. It was a bus for everyone crossing from Thailand to Laos. There were various groups of travellers some young and some older and some local crossing the boarder. We then had to fill in the visa application form and ... read more

So there it was… the time has come to leave Thailand… I just couldn’t believe how fast the month flew by! It felt as if we only arrived in Bangkok and we were leaving the country already? But then looking back at the pictures, we have actually been to quite a few places since then so it shouldn’t really be a surprise that the visa was running short and that it was time to go… As sad as it was to leave Thailand it sure was exciting to be heading to Laos! I was very curious about what this supposedly laid-back country had to offer and was really looking forward to exploring it … There sure were many ways to get to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai – 2 or 3 days by slowboat on the ... read more