To Laos and back

[luke000]

Just back from a border run to Laos to get a new visa . Instead of going to the Vientiane border and getting a new Visa from the Thai Embassy there, I decided to just cross the border at Chiang kong and come back on a Visa exempt stamp , four is the maxmum that they give.......and I was on eight already , but they are all the the front of my passport and as I am close to the back, I hoped that they wouldnt notice . Woke up at 6 AM and headed to the border , traveling light, with just the T-shirt and shorts that I was wearing and my passport in my pocket . My bus drove pass the turning off road to the border and I got off and decided to walk the five kilometers to the border , a brisk walk through the Thai Countryside.

Got to the border . Went through Thai immigration , My passport got thoroughly inspected and the officer told me that I have to go to the Embassy to get a new Visa , which is a 22 hour journey away . He asked me whether I intended coming back to Thailand and I replied that I did . He asked when I intended coming back, I told him vaguely "soon" and he asked "How soon" and I replied "in about ten minutes" . He told me that I had to go and get a proper visa from the Embassy, 22 hours away . I told him that " I will next time and that I'll see you in ten minutes"

Stamped out of Thailand , into Laos , straight out of Laos and back into Thailand again without a problem.

Decided to walk another five kilometers back to the road .

Got to the road and a road sigh said that it was another six kilometers into Chiang Kong town , but there was a KFC along the way , so walked the 3 kilometers to the KFC and the other 3 kilometers into town .

Got to the bus station and no more buses , no buses going anywhere .

So had to spend the night in CK . As I had no bags , I didnt check into a hotel . Went straight to a bar to watch the evenings football . Rolled out the bar at 1 AM , with the first bus at 6 AM .

The temperature had plummeted to close to freezing , literally, all I has was my shorts and T-shirt on . It was 1 AM dark and cold and windy, with the wind coming straight off the Mekong river, making it even colder .

I was shivering uncontrollably and I thought that I could very well freeze to death .

This was an emergency situation .

What do you do in an emergency?

Go to the Police .

I went to the Police station and all the lights were off.

I tried tthe door and it opened .

Two night duty Police were asleep inside .

I told them that I was stranded and frozen and sat myself down on a chair .

One of them went and got me a blanket and wrapped it around me and I went to sleep .

I got a nudge at 6 AM the following morning, still sat in the chair wrapped in the blanket .

The Policeman telling me that the first bus was leaving town soon and he politely told me to get the <deleted> outta here , which I did and thanked them for their hospitality , getting back home at 3 PM

[Rob13]

Today's lesson: Next time go to Vientienne and get a 60 day visa and take a jacket and 500 baht for a room.

[luke000]

P.S. Usually when you get a Laos Visa, its costs either US $35 (which is about 1300 Baht) or 1500 Baht ,

This time I couldnt get hold of any US $ , so I paid 1500 Baht and he gave me 120 Baht and 2 US$ change , which they didnt previously do .

The previously kept the difference .

[Rob13]

Second Lesson: Keep a C-note tucked away in you wallet.

[luke000]

Whats a C-note ?

[Rob13]

[luke000]

Most of the hotels had closed by 1 AM , yeah, I probably could have found somewhere if I had wondered around , but I could have frozen to death in the process

[jacksam]

Nice report. Reminds me of some of the stupid things I did when young and sadly not so young