A quick stopover in Bangkok for 6 hours between my flight from Myanmar and the overnight train to Bangkok, allowed time to revisit the weekend markets and make a pig of myself with all the delicious food I missed last time when I was pre detox. The plan had been to pick up some new boardies, although I failed miserably and spent my whole time enjoying fruit shakes, curries, coconut ice cream, chocolate nut covered frozen bananas and plenty of fresh fruit (just to balance it out). Eating myself in to a food coma was one way to make the train journey a little more bearable.
The train stops at Nong Khai, the Thailand bordering town to Laos, where you can either take a train or in my case tuk tuk (cost 30 baht) to the visa office for a visa on arrival. The process is quick, once the form is filled out you hand it over with $30 USD and a few minutes later your passport is bearing a full page visa, one page closer to filling up prematurely before this trip is over. Next everyone boards a bus that drives over the friendship bridge dividing Thailand and Laos, dropping you to a hoard of tuk tuk drivers, anxious for your business on the 20 minute trip in to town.
We had a little trouble finding my hot tip guesthouse, particularly as Bousay was the wrong spelling and when we did eventually locate it, the place turned out to be a total dump even at the cheap price of $7 per night. A couple of tourists pointed me in the direction of Mixay down by the river which I had read was one of the cheapest in town. Upon arrival a few backpackers at Douang Deuane 2 recommended the place and it was right next to Mixay. DD2 seemed to have a slightly cleaner shared bathroom so I checked in to the basic single fan room at $7 per night. Vientiane has a French atmosphere to it, with patisseries dotted along every street and most guest houses boasting French speaking staff. The evening was spent sipping on the famous Beer Lao at sunset and ejoying a big freshwater fish, barbecued and served with a spicy dipping sauce at a restaurant adjacent to the waterfront.
Vientiane had gained a spot on my itinerary as it was the only place in Laos that I could sort my China visa, otherwise I would have entered the country in the north as a few people had commented the town is rather dull. China makes it a pain in the ass to get you visa so you are supposed to meet the following documentation requirements ;
- Copy of your entry an exit ticket to China
- Copy of your accommodation whilst in Chine
- Copy of your passport
- Bank statement with at least $100USD per day in China
- Application form (provided at the embassy)
- Passport photo
- Copy of ID
- Letter confirming employment
The above is what is generally required but can vary depending on the mood of the official. As I did not have an entry date or know where I would be departing from, a local travel agent made me up some fake flight and accommodation bookings and copied my other documents all for $5. Having read the Bangkok embassy was making life difficult, I held off until Vientiane and the whole process ran smoothly in less than 15 minutes. Finding the bank 'next to the morning market' which I got right on the 7th attempt (so many bloody banks in the area) was rather frustrating. I had paid for a express visa, so it was ready to collect the following morning. Renting a bicycle I somehow managed to get horribly lost on the 5 km journey and stressing that I would not make the 11am closure time, which luckily turned out to be 12pm and gave me time to jump on a 2pm mini bus to Vang Vieng.
No comments:
Post a Comment