Lost In Laos - Day 6

This post starts with breakfast!

23 Dec 09, 1100hrs, Nong Khai Friendship Bridge

The ride couldn't have got off to a more inauspicious start. Only a couple of kilometres (barely 1 or 2 in fact!) from Udon Thani, we got stopped at a roundabout by the police. With absolutely no idea what we’ve done wrong, we could only play the tourist card (act blur all the way) and deny everything to get ourselves out of a bribe. It was really one too many over the past few days.

Then he asked for our driving license. You could almost hear the cue for that moment in silence.

So it was that I had forgotten to bring my driving license and that reality hit me before entering Laos. Although the Thai police let us off, not knowing what to ask from us, a self-doubt had developed. along the ride to Nong Khai What if the Laos customs asked for my license before entry or that it suddenly became a requirement to have it before entering another country? Blimey, this is hitting me hard....

The Laos Customs at Nong Khai has left me with a good impression. Despite looking like we owed them money, they obliged to every request and question we have and even offered to bring us around the customs to settle our paperwork for the import of the bikes. Just like Thailand, Laos also worked with a rather odd system in keeping track of all foreign vehicles in the country, that is, by recording every vehicle in and out of the country as an import or export. Because of this, the paperwork can become very tedious for non-neighboring countries and Larry and myself scooted from booth to booth.

Nong Khai Friendship Bridge

With Laos immigration cards

Nong Khai Customs is also notorious for randomly deciding not to allow foreign registered vehicles into the country, so we accepted the fact that since they gone through the trouble of bringing us around, we are most likely going to get through. The just concluded SEA Games probably helped opened up the country a little and aided us in our bid to enter from this Friendship Bridge. But, being the carrot heads we were, we found out later that we paid extra for something that wasn’t necessary at the Chong Mek border down south. Oh well, as long as we’re in Laos, we are more than happy to begin the 2^nd phase of our trip...Laos, here we come!!

Finally on our way to getting lost!

The first thing you will notice about Laos is that we need to ride on the right side of the road. At the time of this writing (26 Dec 09), I have found myself riding in the opposite direction on several occasions! This wasn’t a problem for us in Vietnam last year as we were led by a guide and the bikes in Vietnam seem to be traveling as they wish anyway. Larry was particularly worried as he hadn’t expected it but I was sure he’ll adapt to it well.

A funny little sign to tell you to stay in the right lane

over the Friendship Bridge...

...to a very dusty Laos PDR. And this is considered mild...

The roads in Laos are a very dusty lot. It is not very pleasant to be behind another vehicle, getting caked in fine dust and grime. Nonetheless, we looked forward to finally meeting up the rest of the group in Vientiane. It’s been 3 long and anxious days, and we can’t wait to get the ride started.

Vientiane, being the capital of Laos, is expected to be decked in festivities for Christmas. But as we found out later, Christmas is not a holiday in Laos! Even the presence of farangs (foreigners) failed to give the pubs and eateries any hint of the Christmas that is to come. Vientiane is also a surprisingly cold and quiet capital city. Being the capital, one would expect a flurry of activities and hordes of tourists, but the feeling one gets from Vientiane is similar to that of Hatyai.

a shophouse in the capital

one of the nicer looking hotels

Much like a border outpost town. So many more towns in Thailand are livelier than this place. The city of Vientiane is gearing up to be a major disappointment, i fear.

our lunch!

A Herge inspired cafe bringing us wonderful tintin paintings..

In Tin Tin cafe

yes, we were very hungry

A very stupid challenge

The first 3 finally meets up!!!

not exactly...we were not fast enough to fly.. :)

The eventual meet up with the first group was an extremely happy affair. All of us have traveled together before but usually as members of Kruzer’s ride, with a fixed itinerary. This is the first time we are organizing one for ourselves and the group dynamics may still run into some hiccups, but as some of us have known each other for 5 years, we do not expect it to be a major problem. It was just a matter of 1 to 2 days of establishing one self in the group.

back to the cafe again. it's the best looking one ard, so we didn't bother with another

my second beer

We have decided to stay in Vientiane for another day. Lun, Cs and Dylan have traveled for several days in a row and having an extra day of rest and sight-seeing would serve the body well. Racheal also have a couple of ex-colleagues from APB stationed here at Vientiane and they are more than willing to bring us around for dinner and drinks.

Jacques is a most gracious and jovial host. With the innate ability to down a mug of beer in 2 gulps and along with that, copious amount of the bitter, he’ll make a good wedding brother. He is also able to make the most conservative of strangers warm up to him, so it was great that everyone had enjoyed the first night’s dinner of Thai food and exploration around Vientiane’s various beer and food outlets. It was also from him that we learn about the routes that we are going to take in the days ahead and some facts about Laos that enabled us to appreciate the country better.

a thai restaurant - haven't had it this good for a couple of days

on to market visits to beer joints in Vientiane

a local coffeeshop! filled with nearby factory workers

and delicious minced meat

the coffeeshop

second round at cowboy cafe! where I drank myself silly, downing one after another in a single go

the remaining cavalry

i don't remember taking this picture though..

Cs was getting a little sick this whole evening and it probably came from some food he ate. Both him and Dylan had fallen sick earlier in the week and they reckoned that it was the Laotian food causing them indigestion. So off they went while the rest of us stayed a while longer to accompany our hosts.

Hopefully things will be ok tomorrow. And another day for exploring Vientiane