Laos

Nong Khai, Thialand to Vientiane, Laos

22 km


Today marks my first country crossing and I could not have asked for a more beautiful day. You could actually see blue skies with only patches of clouds in the air. I paused for several minutes crossing the Friendship bridge which spans the Meckong River connecting the two countries to enjoy my first milestone. Plus I just had to pee over the bridge. Couldn't hold it anymore.

Leaving Thailand was definitely a bitter sweet moment. Exiting was no problem, however entering Laos I was held up in customs for a significant amount of time considering I had taken care of my visa ahead of time. After gettting my passport stamped, I was hanging out putting my things away when a customs official approached me. He indicated that I had to pay an additional charge. Of course knowing I didn't have to, I nodded in agreement and shelled out the extra 10 Baht in customs charge. Hey, it was either pay or get denied access. Maybe if I shaved and took a shower this morning, I would have been more presentable.

The greeting to Laos was jaw dropping. Compared to Thai Roads, Laos is definitely at least a decade behind. Road construction leading to Vientiane meant 1.5 lanes of somewhat decent paved roads and the other gravel, dirt, mud, etc. Dodging potholes left and right and trying no to get hit, it took me 2 hours to cover 20 km. This country will definitely be as I call it "character building."

Vientiane by no means exudes the personality of a country capital. There is no skyline and most of the secondary roads are gravelish type roads. I roamed the city for an hour or so trying to figure out where the heck I was as there are not too many street signs on the cities peripheral.

I variety of circumstances requires me to burn two days here. The first being the need to wait for my new computer being sent from the states. My computer "mysteriously" disappeared during my train transport from Bangkok to Khorat. A quick phone call to Charles at MOB resolved the situation. He dropped one in the mail no questions asked. You guys have been AWESOME. THANK YOU! The second problem is my Vietnam Visa has already started to expire. Based on my current timeline, I will only have a week access in Vietnam. Hopefully a visit to the Vietnamese Embassy will resolve this issue. If not, again I will have to alter my trip itinerary. Hey, its all part of the adventure!!

My third problem is that I managed to have forgotten my second pair of bike shorts in Bangkok ( I hope). And let me tell you this...spandex is NOT common in asia!! Haven't quite figured a solution to this but I will.

Off to explore a new country. Hope everyone at the very least is getting a couple of laughs reading my blog. If not, let me know and I'll add some green curry spice to my narrative.