A slightly different border experience in Nong Khai

Our truly relaxing and beautiful stay in Chiang Mai unfortunately came to an end and so it was time for us to pack our backpacks and head to the bus terminal. After almost 7 months of living exclusively out of our backpacks, this was of course no problem for us and with a certain routine and the knowledge that every object has its perfect place in the backpack, this was quickly done.

For the journey to Nong Khai, the place where the first Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge is located, we had booked another overnight bus ride. Surprisingly comfortable, it started in the evening at 8:00 p.m. and arrived on time in Nong Khai in the morning at around 8:00 a.m. The journey was not very spectacular and fortunately, after about an hour, the hyperactive Duracell bunny from Laos sitting next to us finally fell asleep and left us more or less in peace ;-)

In Nong Khai, we booked the Asawann Hotel for the first time in what felt like an eternity, hoping that they could at least help us understand the questions about crossing the border and organizing transportation.

Unfortunately, when we checked in, we quickly realized that, as so often in Thailand, English was not available at all. At least the rooms were nice, cheap, the breakfast was okay, and there was a shopping mall right next to the hotel, so we could easily take care of ourselves.

In our opinion, Nong Khai has very little to offer as a city, so we only visited the number 1 attraction, the Sala Kaeo Kou (Wat Kaek) Buddha Park. It was a nice destination that we can highly recommend. We spontaneously organized the arrival and departure by tuk-tuk, so the whole trip including admission cost us no more than 8€ for 2 people.

We had booked 2 nights in Nong Khai to explore the city and recover from the night bus journey before continuing our journey to Laos. Unfortunately, we had absolutely no opportunity to organize anything in advance regarding transportation across the border and beyond, as there is no direct bus across the border waiting for the immigration formalities. The direct bus is only an option if you have already obtained a slightly more expensive visa from Germany or at the Lao Embassy in Bangkok. So we had no choice but to organize this completely spontaneously and step by step the following day. A small summary of the entire experience is shown in the following picture, where we recorded the individual steps of the actually smooth border crossing from Thailand to Laos using a note app =DD

A round-the-world trip is not always relaxation and also involves a lot of organization and stress, which is, of course, not seen by everyone. We were glad to have documented everything in writing so that other travelers can get an approximate idea of how much time and cost is involved in crossing the border overland from Thailand to Laos via the Friendship Bridge. Feel free to use it as a reference, but please note that from 6:00 to 8:00 in the morning, as well as on weekends and late evenings, the crossing becomes more expensive. Therefore, we arrived at the border shortly after 8:00 in the morning to avoid additional costs and have enough time for further transport to Vang Vieng, as we had already booked a hotel there and did not want to stay in Vientiane. It is advantageous to have a reserve of US dollars with you, as otherwise the visa becomes more expensive due to the poor exchange rate, and you should already have a passport photo with you.

Immediately after entering Laos, we met Joris, an incredibly nice Dutchman, yes, that really does exist ;-), with whom we spontaneously shared a minivan to Vientiane. Upon arrival, we unfortunately realized that we had been dropped off at the wrong bus terminal, from which no public bus to Vang Vieng was supposed to depart. So we had to improvise and charter a minivan. Hoping that the journey would continue directly, we got into a tuk-tuk after the price for the transport had been negotiated. By now, however, all three of us had a bad feeling, which was immediately confirmed when we saw the "minivan" that was supposed to take us the nearly 200km to Vang Vieng. Our advantage was that we had not paid yet and the Laotian colleagues wanted to organize our transport for cash. So we wanted to pull the ripcord, which led to a new minivan being offered to us at an even lower price. No problem, we had enough time and wanted to see the new promised vehicle. From our point of view, it turned out to be reliable and acceptable for the 4-hour journey, and we finally paid 6€ per person =D. By the way, the public bus to Vang Vieng only leaves from the Northern Bus Terminal located outside the city.

On such a journey, you really develop a feeling for the situations and for safety, and you should never act against your instincts. So far, we have always been on the safe side, which hopefully will continue until the end of our adventure.

The journey was quite pleasant and, by Southeast Asian standards, the driver drove appropriately on the truly devastating roads. Therefore, at the first stop, together with Joris, we immediately treated ourselves to the first much-praised Laotian beer, which did not disappoint us and made the rest of the journey even more enjoyable =)