On Monday 14th we took another 'VIP' bus to Vientiane, this one was much the same as the last one and had the added bonus of stopping on the curbside for almost an hour while the driver and his mate messed around with the engine and got their hands black with oil after wrapping a piece of rubber around something or other - I was never any good at mechanics.
Any how, the supposed 3 and half hour journey took almost 5 and we arrived in a rainy almost chilly Vientiane at 7pm, the weather has dropped by 10 degrees all over Asia for a few days bringing a record low for the time of year.
We managed to find nice double room for 7pds between us and went off in search of food.
The next day it was still raining and we had to make our way to the Thai embassy to get an extension on the 15 day overland visa to 60 days max.
We took our time and then got the required photos taken for the visa, so by the time we arrived the cut off point had been 5 mins before we got there and so we would have to go back again the next day.
We didn't do much during the day due to the weather.
I decided that I didn't want to make the journey down to the south of Laos for 2 reasons:
Firstly, Frans wanted to visit a 7km cave that takes 2 and half hour to travel through by boat and is described in the travel guide as huge, scary, dark and at times you need to get out of the boat and wade through the water due to it being low.
The bus leaves Vientiane at 7am and takes 4 and half hours to the nearest town, then there is a transfer to the caves by local bus and then the trip through. Not my idea of fun
After that you would have to stay in the local town which didn't sound much fun either.
Secondly, to get down to the south was going to take a further 10-12 hour coach trip (which could have turned out a lot longer) once there, there was still a further 4 hours by bus and boat to the islands, so we would have had to stay in another off the beaten track place for that night..
So, I made a choice to exit Laos here at Vientiane which is a border point into Thailand and take the over night sleeper train which I have booked for this evening leaving here at 5pm and arriving in Bangkok in the morning at 6am.
Frans left me at 6am this morning and is making his way to the caves as I write.
I was also aware that at some point I have to make the break from him and travel solo or I would not find my confidence as it is easy to rely on him at times not least for his company.
We have made tentative plans to meet up somewhere in Southern Thailand, he did not extend his visa in the end, and so only has 15 days from the point of entry and it will take him 2 days to travel south by train.
Once there he wants to do his diving masters which will take a further 5 days, so at most we may have a week or so together and that depends how long it takes him to get to wherever I am.
It is sad that our time together is almost at an end and in some ways I am tempted not to meet up at all, as that way I will not have to count the days until we part.
I will see how philosophical I can become in the next week or so and maybe see him and enjoy is company for one last leg of this wonderful trip
As I write I have no idea where I will head to from Bangkok, I would like to visit one or 2 of the Islands and then possibly cross over the Thai border and into Malaysia to Langkawi which is a very easy trip with no visa charge.
Frans was there a few months ago and says it is a lovely place.
He has left me with 'The Rough guide to Thailand's beached and Islands' and I am half way through reading it before I make a decision.
Every where is reached from Bangkok by train or coach with a boat crossing to an Island after wards, so it will be a matter of which area I fancy and then making my way there.
I will of course write with my adventures when I reach a spot with an internet.
See you in Thailand...
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