Laos - Part one
June 27th was my planned trip to Lao. I needed to leave the country with a letter of appointment to a position (job) and acquire a 90 day Visa at which time I could apply for a 90 day work permit. Then in 90 days I would go to Thai immigration (every 90 days) and get a 1 year work permit. Well long story short as of Friday July 28th I am working legally in Thailand.
As I said this started with a trip to Laos. I left on Tuesday the 27th of June by train to Nong Khai on the Lao border. I went by first class for the 12 hour trip. It only cost about (1100 Baht). It was a night sleeper wih room service. I was in a small cabin in a car that had about 8 of these cabins and a necessary room. The dining car was not working so room service prevailed. The trip up was ok but not as comfortable as I remember on the trains of Europe (used a lot from 1972 to 1975 while stationed in Germany). As always I had a couple of books to read and keep me busy as it was too dark to see much until we came to a town or city. The train goes through the heart of Thailand and for most of the night we were on an express train but it stopped more frequents when we approached the Lao border.
We arrived in Nong Khai at about 8am and I hired a tut-tut for a ride to the border (about 3 or 4 kilometers away). It took about 30 minutes to clear customs on the Thai side and took a mini-bus (van) across the Mekong river via Freedom bridge. I was rather surprised to see how wide the Mekong River was at this point. It was wider than the Ohio River as it runs through Cincinnati. Again customs and immigration had to be cleared on the other side. No problems to speak, of just long lines. Again I hired a mini bus to drop me off at the hotel with a visit to the Thai Consul to start the Visa process. I arrived at the consul after a 30 minute drive. There was a couple of guys standing out front saying that they would help me with the Visa for 5000 Baht and I readily agreed but need to go to an ATM to get more money. As I was going to an ATM machine and coming back I though more and more about this. I don't know this guy from Adam. He could take my 5000 Baht and passport and I'LL never see him again. Then I would be stranded in Lao. So once I returned I decide to do it myself and gave it 200 baht for his trouble. I went into the Consuls office and filled out the paperwork and paid the 2000 baht fee and for that I was going to pay him 5000 Bhat. Geesh
Well I stayed at Lane Xang Hotel in Vientiane. It was a very nice hotel on the Mekong River. It was $35 a night and quit a luxury hotel by Lao standards. I enjoyed the three nights I stayed there.
Laos was the 2nd Communist I had visited (East Germany - 1974). The people are similar to the Thai's - friendly and helpful. The city traffic surprised me. Vientiane is the largest city of Laos with about 450,000 people (in a country of a little over 4 million). The traffic was rather light even during traditional rush hours. Very few cars, quit a few pickup trucks, tut-tuts and motorcycles but no other public transportation to speak of. I happened to be at the rear of the hotel at quitting time and noticed about 50 or 60 motorcycles leaving the hotel. If you didn't have one you hired a tut-tut.
As I said this started with a trip to Laos. I left on Tuesday the 27th of June by train to Nong Khai on the Lao border. I went by first class for the 12 hour trip. It only cost about (1100 Baht). It was a night sleeper wih room service. I was in a small cabin in a car that had about 8 of these cabins and a necessary room. The dining car was not working so room service prevailed. The trip up was ok but not as comfortable as I remember on the trains of Europe (used a lot from 1972 to 1975 while stationed in Germany). As always I had a couple of books to read and keep me busy as it was too dark to see much until we came to a town or city. The train goes through the heart of Thailand and for most of the night we were on an express train but it stopped more frequents when we approached the Lao border.
We arrived in Nong Khai at about 8am and I hired a tut-tut for a ride to the border (about 3 or 4 kilometers away). It took about 30 minutes to clear customs on the Thai side and took a mini-bus (van) across the Mekong river via Freedom bridge. I was rather surprised to see how wide the Mekong River was at this point. It was wider than the Ohio River as it runs through Cincinnati. Again customs and immigration had to be cleared on the other side. No problems to speak, of just long lines. Again I hired a mini bus to drop me off at the hotel with a visit to the Thai Consul to start the Visa process. I arrived at the consul after a 30 minute drive. There was a couple of guys standing out front saying that they would help me with the Visa for 5000 Baht and I readily agreed but need to go to an ATM to get more money. As I was going to an ATM machine and coming back I though more and more about this. I don't know this guy from Adam. He could take my 5000 Baht and passport and I'LL never see him again. Then I would be stranded in Lao. So once I returned I decide to do it myself and gave it 200 baht for his trouble. I went into the Consuls office and filled out the paperwork and paid the 2000 baht fee and for that I was going to pay him 5000 Bhat. Geesh
Well I stayed at Lane Xang Hotel in Vientiane. It was a very nice hotel on the Mekong River. It was $35 a night and quit a luxury hotel by Lao standards. I enjoyed the three nights I stayed there.
Laos was the 2nd Communist I had visited (East Germany - 1974). The people are similar to the Thai's - friendly and helpful. The city traffic surprised me. Vientiane is the largest city of Laos with about 450,000 people (in a country of a little over 4 million). The traffic was rather light even during traditional rush hours. Very few cars, quit a few pickup trucks, tut-tuts and motorcycles but no other public transportation to speak of. I happened to be at the rear of the hotel at quitting time and noticed about 50 or 60 motorcycles leaving the hotel. If you didn't have one you hired a tut-tut.
More later
DERMAN
posted by DERMAN at 5:20 AM
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