🇱🇦 Our last stop in Laos is Vientiane. We cross the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge to Thailand 🇹🇭

We wouldn't have believed it before, but Vientiane was actually our last stop in Laos.

We took the train on 17.12.23 from Vang Vieng to the capital Vientiane. Chris hadn't been feeling well since the previous day, with diarrhea and stomach problems. He couldn't walk well and struggled to the accommodation in Vientiane. From the train station, you can easily take a tuk-tuk into the city. We booked a nice hostel that also had a café or restaurant with delicious food. Somehow, we couldn't enjoy it all because suddenly I also got 🙋🏼‍♀️ severe gastrointestinal problems with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. We hardly saw anything of the city. After two nights, we changed our accommodation in Vientiane and considered what to do next. Chris was getting better every day, now I was the one suffering.

Originally, we wanted to take the night bus to Pakse, but due to our health condition, we ruled that out for now. It was a 14-hour bus ride. So what to do instead?

Our friends are coming to Thailand by ship in January, and we had planned to meet them anyway. So why not go back to Thailand over the border now and celebrate Christmas and New Year there?! We know we feel comfortable in Thailand, but it must be said that Laos didn't convince us from the beginning. We didn't warm up to the people, and although the landscape is beautiful, we had a hard time with the country. Something was missing, it's hard to describe... but you don't have to like every country.

Our decision was final. On December 21st, we took our things to the bus station in Vientiane and took a bus to the border for an hour. After "leaving" Laos, we got on the bus that took us over the first Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge to immigration in Thailand. We filled out the Arrival Card and stood in line. It took a moment, then we were granted entry and got our stamp 🎉 such a great feeling to have Thai ground under our feet again. We were in Nong Khai and slept two nights at the "Pikul Apartment Hotel". We booked a night train that arrived in Bangkok on the morning of 24.12.23. 🎉