One night in Bangkok and a few more in Vientianne

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Sabaydee! Yeeha I'm back in the land of the tuk-tuks!
After a very ugly 40 hours in transit from New Zealand we got to Bangkok at 12am and man it was hot. We got a taxi to our beautiful hostel and headed out for a beer and spring rolls. The next morning we got on the skytrain to the bus station to buy tickets for a bus that night up to the Lao border, got lost in a huge park in the centre of the city (i got burnt shoulders, not good when you're BACK-packing). We took Ross to a restaurant we went to before for some fried rice and chicken and headed for the famous Khao San Road, via tuk tuk of course. I love Bangkok! We had a beer, I got a haircut (for 3 quid) and got back to the hostel to collect our bags before heading off to the bus station again. This time we decided to eat at a foodcourt thing for dinner, bad idea! Although each dish was only 70p, it wisnae very nice so I settled on a pack of crisps to stay safe!
The bus trip up to Nong Khai was quite delightful. We were travelling 1st class, which meant we got a blanket, comfy seat and even a doughnut thing to munch on. When we awoke the next morning we were shuttled onto another tuk tuk, now these tuk tuks are even better than bangkoks! Instead of it looking like a modified minivan, it has the front end of a motorbike! At the border we paid our US dollars and got a cool stamp in the passport then tuk tuk again to Vientianne, the capital of Lao. Vientianne isn't the biggest city but there are a fair few bars and restaurants to choose from. Along the Mekong at night, stalls and bars are set up, selling everything from the much-favoured beer-lao to frogs (cooked how you like) and snakes in some kind of alcohol.
There isn't really too much to see in Vientianne so we got a local bus up to Vang Vien in the mountains. Twas a very bumpy ride with the local folk but great seeing the scenery and the little villages all over the place. The bus randomly dropped us at an old airfield, which we had to walk across to the town, avoiding the many ox all over the place. We stayed at Pan's Place which I'm sure is run by hippys and got a triple room for about 1.30 each (pounds!) So the things to do in Vang Viene are 'happy pizzas' and tubing. Take what you may from the first phrase, needless to say some of us lost a day of our lives. Tubing however was excellent. Basically you get a tractor tyre inner tube and float down the Nam Song, stopping at various bars where little Lao boys pull you in using rope. There's free shots at most bars and a rope swing into the river, which I did once! and screamed the whole way! It was quite high up....
On our last day we rented a couple of scooters aiming for the caves nearby. Unfortunately they were along unsealed tracks and our bikes weren't really suitable. We did try though! The last 3km back was the best part, my bike broke down. Several locals tried to help but no chance, we had to push it back, sneak out of the rental place quite quickly and around the corner. They're fault for giving us a dud!
So from Vang Vien we caught a bus back to Vientianne for the night and booked an overnight bus for the following night heading south. This trip didn't start to well, we were picked up late by a songthaew, which is like an open bus, a huge tuk tuk thing, wiith very limited space, Ross had to hang on to the back for the duration. We were taken to the bus station and transferred to a very cool 'king of bus.' Instead of seats there were beds! with pillows and blankets and a little snack for the night. It was a long night, but much better than sitting in a cramped seat. On arrival in Pakse, 3 hours from the Cambodian border, Ross and I had a slight panic about visas. Our sources were quite mixed so we weren't sure the Cambodians would allow us into the country that day. After a pancake brekkie at an Indian restaurant, figure that one out, we tuk tuked it to the bus station where we boarded another songthaew for the 3 hour trip to the border. Along with 20 Lao folk, their kids, 6 bags of goldfish and some rice. Luckily the fish were dropped off up the road, to be replaced by two live chickens! Needless to say it was a very cramped, smelly trip and extremely bumpy and dusty. On arrival to the border we had gained a couple of inches of dust all over. The border crossing was uneventful except for the doctor who I thought wanted to give us an injection of some sort for a dollar!!!! It turned out he only wanted to check our temperature, so no dramas! 50 metres further along the road we were in Cambodia! and about to get ripped off............
...tune in next time!
xxxx
P.S. Photos to follow when I find a decent internet connection...

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