Vang Vieng to Nong Khai
Trip Start
Dec 01, 2010
1
41
65
Trip End
Mar 31, 2011
Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Leaving for the capital of Laos, Vientiane.
As the others had bought their bus tickets from Vang Vieng too Vientianewhen we arrived in Vang Vieng and I hadn’t (because at that stage I was still undecided as to what my plans where) we got to the bus station really early so I couldn’t sort out my ticket. We arrived at this deserted bus station with no buses and a ticket office that didn’t sell tickets - my thoughts exactly - ‘huh’??? Anyway, everyone had very kindly come early with me so I decided to just wing it and hope I could get a ticket on the bus.
So we waited at this random bus station for quite a while but were kept entertained by a hilarious cock. Now we decided the cock had to be a fighter (a big sport in Laos and other Asian countries) because he was rather bedraggled with feathers missing and a wild, crazy look in his eyes. In all honesty this fellow had us all a little scared, he was vicious! Anyway, he was strutting his stuff around where we were sitting, looking for food. Then he started to cock-a-doodle-doooooo and I don’t know if you have ever watched a cock with no feathers on its neck sing its ‘song’ - it is hilarious!!! We were rolling around laughing, in stitches! The effort and strain this guy went through to show off his…um…squwak was side-splitting! Oh lordy did we cry laughing!
Eventually a really dilapidated bus crammed with people arrived and our hearts sank because we thought this bus would be the one to take us the 6+ hours to Vientiane - oh lordy! But then everyone pilled out and we realised that this wasn’t our bus, phew! We met up with Mathieu who we had done the Mekong river journey with and eventually when the correct bus arrived we all climbed on, Vantienne bound. I managed to buy my ticket on the bus and it was cheaper than the tickets the others had bought at the station before - score! J
We arrived in Vientiane and missioned to find a place to stay. We found a place with 3 double rooms available and Mathieu very kindly offered to share a room with me to help me cut my costs so the 6 of us went to our rooms to chill out before dinner. We went for dinner which was really delicious!
The next day we booked out of our room and I spent the rest of the day in a coffee shop on the internet sorting boring admin stuff out and trying to figure out my next move. Yassmine ended up going to the doctor because she wasn’t feeling well and we were all really worried about her. When she eventually appeared at the coffee shop with Kevin we were relieved to see her and hear that nothing was majorley wrong. Then it was time for very sad goodbyes. Enough said.
That evening I got the border crossing bus from Vientiane, Laos into Nong Khai, Thailand. It was an easy-ish journey and I found the most amazing guesthouse - Mut Mee - where I spent the next 3 days trying to figure out my immediate plans. Without boring you with the details I went from travelling for another 3 months, to going to Borneo for a month to realising I had nearly run out of money and had to spend the next month (my flight home to SA was booked for 30 March from Bangkok) doing something that didn’t require too much in the way of monies. So I booked a flight to Bali on 04 March.
