Sleeping that night with visions of Laos still in our heads, we were off to Chiang Khong & the Thai/Lao border. About 3 hours later there it was and as the animated French Canadian, Eric, put it..."the Mighty Mekong--the most important river in all of SE Asia!!!" No armed guards, one wooden sign and an exit stamp, 30 baht for the boat & we were off--Jesse, Eric, Tomanko & I in our little ferry boat--Lao land in sight! I somehow managed to barter a bit at the border & ended up only paying 32 dollars instead of 35. Guess the baht to dollar conversion didn't quite translate & I think the guard gave up. And once again, no hasseling, no stress, but at the same time no chorus of hello, hello, hello from the children. Boohoo!
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