Leaving Laos

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After one short boat ride, a slightly longer van ride and an even longer bus ride we were at the Laos/Thailand border. We'd budgeted ourselves right down to the last bit of our kip so we could just afford a Beer Laos to split before leaving the country. Which is why we were slightly dismayed to find that you are charged to leave the country! We werent sure what the charge was for exactly, but as we were out of kip we had to dig into some of our Thai Baht we had saved from our previous visit to Bangkok. I say this like it was a big deal but really it was about a $1.50. Not such a big thing but when you get dinged little charges here and there ultimately for just being a foreigner, it gets a little old.
We paid, got our exit stamps in our passports and crossed over into Thailand. It was easy to forget the difference in progress between these countries, but as we re-entered Thailand we were reminded just how much more infrastructure Thailand has. What was a little plaster shack for a border crossing in Laos was a towering glass and concrete compound in Thailand. We were also reminded just how friendly and accomodating the Thais are, as most people greated us with a smile and an offer to help us find our bus or get us to where we needed to be if we looked a little lost.
We took a Tuk-Tuk to a nearby bus station and waited a couple hours for our bus to Bangkok. Thankfully our polish neighbors from Don Det were here also and we all had a couple beers and some pad thai from a food cart, shared some laughs and piled into the night bus to Bangkok.
We had been told we'd get a meal on the bus, which wasnt new as some of the bus rides in Laos had done the same. However, where in Laos we'd stop at a road side kitchen and be given a decent little meal on this particular bus we were given a package of 4 Oreo cookies and an individually wrapped cup of water. What made this even more hilarious was that it was served to us by a bus-stewardess, complete with a mask to make sure she didnt germ up our meals! Funny stuff.
The ride ended up being a decent one and we made it to the Bangkok bus station rather comfortably though it was around 6am when we got there.

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