Buses, Buses and Nong Khai

---

From Chiang Mai we took an overnight bus to Udon Thani to transfer up to the border town of Nong Khai. Now normally the bus journey itself wouldn’t warrant much mention but on this occasion feel it is worth it. We arrived at the bus terminal knowing that we could get a bus at approx 7 pm for the 12 hour journey to Udon Thani. When we arrived at 5pm and went to the window we were told that the last bus out was at 7 pm and the only remaining seats were at the back of the bus and did not recline - we hesitated and checked that it had aircon and that there were no other buses going later that evening - after being told this was the last one we reluctantly paid and waited the 2 hours before our departure in the uncomfortable bus terminal. However, upon getting on the bus found this to be a second class bus which means an ant could blow more air than the air con did and being seated above the engine meant it was rather warm!! The crack in the window next to us did little to ease the apprehension about the journey ahead. Mark soon discovered that his seat wasn’t even fixed in properly and it kept sliding forward!! And so the journey began….

After about an hour of touring all the local bus stations we eventually picked up more passengers than there were seats and we ended up squashed into our cosy back seat which added to the heat of the engine and lack of aircon. An hour and a half later our extra passengers departed and we were given a little more room. Thinking we may just be able to get enough sleep to survive on in our seated position, I got as comfortable as I could leaning against the cracked window and Mark was attempting not to get in the way of the family with the sleeping child - that didn’t last long!!! The ‘sleeping’ child soon awoke and shortly after grandmother was covered in baby milk that hadn’t stayed down. With the aid of our torch she managed to sort herself out only for little one to throw up over mum! In amongst the screaming she managed to sleep for a short while before waking and screaming for yet another nappy change!!

Needless to say it was not the most comfortable journey and with about 4 hours sleep between us we arrived at Udon Thani at 6.15 am to get on another bus to take us the hour journey to Nong Khai. However our journey was far from over. At 6.30 am we departed Udon Thani thinking we were only an hour away from Nong Khai - the bus left the terminal turned down two roads and stopped - for an hour!!! The driver decided it was a good time to have breakfast, catch up with his mates and see who else he could get on the bus. At 7.30 am we eventually left the side of the road and headed towards Nong Khai. Approximately 5 stops and an hour later we saw the signs for Nong Khai. At this point tuk tuk drivers began to flag down the bus to accost any person doing the border crossing into Laos - with a very close call when my backpack got taken off the us when some others took up the offer we made it safely to Nong Khai at 8.30 am. After a few more tuk tuk drivers tried to gain our business we were eventually walking along by the river and went for breakfast before finding somewhere to stay.

As for Nong Khai itself - there was a nice promenade and view of Laos and the friendship bridge. A couple of nice eateries and a small market, that’s it. So after all that nightmare travel we spent two days recovering in order to get on a 12 hour bus to Bangkok!!

---