Advertisement
Published: August 10th 2006
Phra That Lueng
The symbol of LaosAfter being in Thailand for 30 days you are required to leave the country, unless you have a visa. The price you pay for not doing so is about 15 dollars for every day you stay past your arrival date. This fine they collect on your departure of the country. Since a Visa can be quite costly for Thailand, it is easier to buy a 30 day visa to Laos, leave and come back. Some people call this a “visa run” where they simply buy the visa, go over to Laos and get their stamp to return to Thailand and have another 30 days to travel or live.
Since I already had to fork up the 30 dollars for the visa I decided to spend the weekend in Vientiane, Laos capitol. People make the visa-run sound easy, “Just go to the bus station and take the International bus to the boarder and then on to Vientiane.”
For me, however it managed to take 6 hours.
I first went to the bus station by tuk-tuk to meet another person saying you had to have a visa already to take the bus. I was planning on getting the visa on
The Monument
Arc De Triomphe replica arrival therefore did not have one, so the man said could take me to go get a visa. I agreed and then he pulled around with another tuk-tuk. We drove across town and when he pulled into a travel agency I knew I had just been scammed. The tuk-tuk drivers get commission for every customer they bring to certain agencies and will do so with no care of the inconvenience on your part.
I went in any ways to ask about the bus. “Oh! You want to do it through the bus.” The man said, “You should have been at the bus station 10 minutes ago. No problem though we can take you.”
Frustrated I told him I was just at the bus stop and the driver took me here. “He must have been confused.”
I bet he was.
The man wanted to over charge me for the visa and I had already gotten USD to pay for it, which he would not accept. I told him I had to go to an ATM and he had the tuk-tuk take me. On the way to the ATM which was all the way back to the bus
Doors of Measure
Inside the Museum temple stop I was feeling really cheated. I got my money and told him to go to the Nong Khai Grand. I would rather spend the next few hours at the pool waiting for the bus in 5 hours then let him make a few dishonest dollars off of me, even if it was more convenient.
The Hotel was having a party so the pool was closed. It worked out though because I was able to get the details and facts from the woman at the counter. I could trust her because she would not benefit from my situation at all. She called a tuk-tuk for me that she said could take me to the border and then there was a bus to take me over the Thai-Laos Friendship bridge. I thanked her and was on my way.
When I go to the border I went to find a building that looked like a possible visa on arrival building. A maninside said it was on the other side and to just take the bus over. So I took the bus over to Laos. When we arrived the window for a visa was right there. I filled out the paperwork
Koom sam
One of the Monks from the Temple and handed him my passport.
“You didn’t stamp out.” The guy at the window told me.
“What?” I asked.
“When you left Thailand, you forgot to get your departure stamp. You
will have to take the bus back over and then come back.”
I was so anxious about getting the visa that I had walked right by the departure booths.
On my way back over the river I felt like an illegal fugitive.
After I legally made it to Laos, for the second time, I got my visa and then took a very expensive ride to the capitol on a tuk-tuk.
Since I only had one day in Laos I decided to go all out and get a nice Guesthouse in the center of the action. After I checked in and got settled down, I went to try and rent a Bicycle for the day. It was then that I realized it was 3:00 -- the bike was due back at 6. I took it any way but 10 meters later realized the wheel was bent, so I returned it.
I had borrowed Jim’s Lonely Planet but decided to explore on foot
and see what I came across. I followed the river for a while past several temples and markets. I walked in to the city some ways I found the Large “Black Stupa.” It was said to once be covered in gold, but was stripped of its gold when Laos was invaded.
With in my first 3 hours of being there I had seen over 5 Volkswagen bugs. I found out later that Laos had been Colonized by the French, and that along with the oldly …French ….architecture it began to make a lot more sense.
Walking down the back alley that led into some random temple, I saw a younger monk sitting on a bench secluded from the rest of the word. When I got closer I realized he was smoking a cigarette! I couldn’t believe it! I mean if a monk’s life is so stressful that he is brought to the point where he has to smoke, then how is there hope for the rest of the world?
I then guessed that maybe he was a rebellious one, or that it was ok in Laos. BUT—then when I got on to the bus back in Thailand
to go to Ho Kham, I saw an older monk also smoking a cigarette in public! I was shocked, I had witnessed twice in one day something I had never encountered in my whole month of living there.
When I got home I told my host mother in disbelief. She said it was allowed and acted as though I had made a huge deal about a monkey eating a banana.
Later on I walked down past the oldest temple in Vientiane. It is said that Buddha has taught there and it even has a large (now empty) box that use to contain many of his writings. Here I met several monks about my age and talked about the history of the temple, which was now a Museum.
Later I found the large monument which stood as a symbol of friendship between the Chinese and Laos people. It stood in the center of the park and was a replica of the Arc De Triomphe. When you get closer however this French inspired monument is decorated in Laos fashion. In front there was a huge fountain that was not on, and the park was alive with people. I stayed
Hard work
Walking down the side walk I looked up to see a rifle pointed at me! I quickly moved aside and then asked to take a photo. here until the sun set behind the arcs and walked back before dark.
The next day I decided to get up early and see a few more sights. I went to the Phra That Lueng and saw the large gold symbol of Laos that was surrounded by temples and then went to the morning market. After that I was pretty warn out so I went back to the boarder. My Tuk-Tuk driver was kind enough to stop at several temples on the way for me to take photographs, so it was a longer trip than expected.
Getting home was a lot Easier!
(HEY! If you actually read this, leave me a comment!!!)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.246s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 22; qc: 117; dbt: 0.1542s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
srh
non-member comment
insanity
bek, and i thought back home people gave you the run-around! I would have loved to see you running around like crazy that lovely visa day... As always, the pictures are beautiful. What exactly is the Black Stupa, because it was amazing...but the best picture is this supermodel one at the end. priceless.. I suppose you are back in Korea now? email me and let me know... Iloveyou girl. srh oh, and by the way, stop giving Monks cigarettes and asking them to pose for a picture, that's just wrong.