Misdirection

Day 330

I got up early, but it took me longer than expected to pack so I ended up catching the 9 am instead of the 8 am bus. I paid extra for air con and was really upset when it didn't work. The windows didn't open and it was so hot that I felt like I was cooking in my own sweat. The road was really windy and the driver was going really fast. This all combined made for the highest level of motion sickness I have had on this trip.

Even worse, they didn't stop where I was told they would. I caught the mistake about 40 miles past Vang Vieng. The driver didn't understand what I wanted but luckily a girl at the restaurant we stopped at did. I asked her where the bus stop was and she drove me down there on her motorbike. I tried to give her some money but she refused. She also made sure that I got on the right bus.

After waiting through that buses break for about 40 minutes it was another 30 minutes before I got to Vang Vieng. From the bus station I grabbed a tuk-tuk to the hotel that Nicole was staying at. I didn't have to worry about having a place to stay because Nicole had reserved a room for me. I found her hanging out at the restaurant when I arrived. I was there about 3 hours after I should have gotten there and in desperate need of a shower. An hour later I was ready to go.

Nicole and I spent some time comparing itineraries. It turned out that we both had the same ideas of where we wanted to go. For dinner that night we went to a place that played episodes of Family Guy. We sat there until they closed. Our plans for the next day required us to wake up at a descent hour, so after watching a movie at the hotel we called it a night.

Waiting Game

Day 329

I was up early and headed straight to the company that would process my visa. Next I headed to the Scandinavian bakery. Here I was able to get a bagel, chocolate chip cookies that tasted right and a cinnamon roll. I went over board, but I hadn't seen these things in a while. I took everything back to my room. I wanted to write in my journal and watch tv for the day. There really wasn't anything else for me to do.

When I grew bored, and hungry again, I headed out to the internet cafe. I was able to confirm with Nicole that we would meet up the next day in Vang Vieng. I also worked on the blog a bit. Soon it was time to get my passport back. I had been a bit worried about it working because they didn't ask me to fill out any paperwork. Everything was good though. It's too bad that I didn't know that for sure, I could have headed straight for Vang Vieng that night.

Instead I picked up a sandwich and headed back to my room to watch more tv. I got a bit lonley after a bit and went to a nearby pub. Laos has some rediculous curfews though and it soon closed. I went back to my room and went to sleep.

Next!

Day 328

I was up early and got the 7:45 am bus to Vientiane, Laos. I slept through most of the ride. Crossing the boarder was really easy. I'm really glad that I got that visa in advance, the lines were crazy long! Luckily it is a requirement to have an advance visa to take the bus so everyone else got through quickly as well.

When I got to Vientiane I met an English girl riding around on a bike who told me that everything was full. A few minutes later I found out that she was right. I managed to get a room for about 3 times what I had been paying in Thailand. I did have air con and a tv though with channels in English! I think it's good to treat myself on occasion.

I then had to get some kip. This took some time as none of the ATM's wanted to take my card. Eventually I figured out that I was hitting current account when I should pick checking account. I had wandered around for nothing.

Laos was a French colony. The language seems to be gone (although I think Laosions over 40 might still speak French) but baggetts and cafe culture has stayed. I had a lovely bagget sandwich for lurch. While I ate I checked out my guidebook. There wasn't anything I wanted to do here. I had know that from the beginning, I was really just here for a Vietnamese visa anyway.

When lunch was done I headed to the Internet cafe to check out my visa options and to let Nicole know that I was in Laos. We were planning on meeting up in the next day or two. I couldn't find anything online that guaranteed my ability to get a visa anywhere else in Laos, and none of my friends seemed to know either. I had to get it here to ensure I would have it. I then had to figure out if paying an extra $15 for expedited service would be worth it, if I didn't I would have to sit around for 5 or 6 more days as it was coming near the weekend to get it. In the end I decided on expatiated service. It was expensive to stay here and I would save money in the long run.

That evening I sat in my air con room watching movies. It was really quite a bit of a treat, I hadn't done this for ages.