Blogs from Pakbeng, West, Laos, Asia - page 3

Today started super early as we had a lot to do. We had some breakfast and we were ready for the bus at 6:45am; not everyone else was though, much to the displeasure of others, some of the group was still fast asleep as they had not got in until about 5:00am. Finally we were underway though, just after 7:10am. Today we were crossing the border from Thailand to Laos. The drive to the border was short, only about 2hours; most of which everyone slept. On reaching the border we had to take our passports to get stamped to say that we left Thailand then we had to get in little boats, cross the river and get off on the other side in Laos. Once on the other side we had to get our visas; for ... read more

We woke up bright and early to get to the bus station and book our tickets to the Laos border as we were advised. Had brekkie at the hostel and the owner a really nice guy even drove us. We arrived before 7:30am and joined a bigger than expected cue at the Thailand Green Bus company to buy our tickets. When we eventually got to the counter....disaster again struck! The 8:30am bus had completely sold out! We were left with no choice really but to get tickets for the 1pm bus or stay another night in Chiang Mia. So reluctantly we bought the tickets and faced a 5 hour wait in the station. We were both pretty cheesed off and spent the first hour barely talking to one another. After a little exploring we found an ... read more

Started my Gap Indochina trip on March 15th. Our joining hotel was closed to the Independent Monument and that was where the Thai Red Shirt protest centre in Bangkok. Did not have any trouble getting around town. We did do a long tailed boat ride around the Chao Pattaya canal seeing the local lived on the canal. Some beautiful houses and some shacky wooden houses dotted the canal. They have a water taxi that will take the people living along the Canal to and from work. We went on to Chianmai on the 17th via sleeper Train. Left Bangkok at 6pm and did not get to ChianMai till 10am due to some delayed along the way. The sleeping quarter was ok though with the roacking motion of the train, most of us could not sleep. ... read more

We rose relatively early to get some breakfast, Laos currency and buy some lunch for the boat. The guest house owner had booked seats for us and arranged for a tuk-tuk to pick us up and take us down to the dock. After another bit of faffing around with passports to get actual paper tickets we walked down to a nearly empty boat where we found we had to wait for an hour. It was quite a cramped affair with many rows of narrow pew-like wooden seats. And then it began to fill up with crowds of people. The operators eventually allowed people on to one of the boats next to us, but it was still rather crowded by the time it set off at half eleven. I think we drew the short straw in a ... read more

While travelling through Thailand,I heard by many travellers that a trip along the Mekong river was a must. So once I have arrived nearby that location, in Chiang Mai, I looked for an agency to help me obtaining a visa to cross the border to enter Laos. I spent a couple of days in Chiang Mai visiting the city and his innumerable Buddhist temples which are scattered throughout the city. On the departure day, we set off at, probably, ten o'clock with a minivan picking up all the tourists around the town and heading to Chiang Rai which was the location of the departure. I started, already, to talk and meet nice people on the way to the Mekong river. The ambiance was really cool and the curiosity to see what this unique trip looked like. ... read more