Back in Thailand

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010--Vientiane

Today is my last day in Thailand. I have nothing special planned. I am still here because I need to finish spending my Lao money and because the time limit I will have in Thailand before I must leave demands that I stay here one more day.

After having another wonderful sandwich, I went to the a nearby temple and finished reading War Trash by Ha Jin. He is a former Chinese citizen who now is an American. He writes his books in English; they are not translations. And he is one of the better American authors, I think. This book about Chinese prisoners of war during the Korean Conflict had more details than seemed necessary; he apparently wanted to include all the evidence that he had about the negative aspects of both the Communists and the Nationalists as they manipulated and maneuvered to try to convince the POWs to choose to go to their side when they were repatriated. His book Waiting is a better novel, I think. I gave War Trash 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

After an afternoon researching my travel plans inside the room away from the heat, I went out around 17:00 looking for someone who would appreciate receiving my finished novel. I first asked an older American couple. I think they may have feared that I had an ulterior motive. He quickly responded, "We already have a couple of books that we brought." A few moments later I came across two guys sharing a beer and speaking in English. I asked if either of them read books in English and would like a free one I have finished and wanted to give away to avoid the weight in my bag. One of them, a man from Holland, responded that he reads English books. They asked me to join them. I sat and visited for about 45 minutes. The other man was from Italy. The two of them had met and spent some time together in Colombia two years ago, and they just accidentally ran into each other this afternoon here in Vientiane. What a nice coincidence.

For my last meal, I had some spicy pork and basil in a sauce over rice. Then I bought two small pastries to have for dessert. That took me down to 21,000 kip, the local currency which is not convertible and cannot be exchanged outside of Lao. (By the way, everyone here calls the country Lao rather than Laos, so I have learned to do the same. They call themselves Lao people rather than Laotians, too.) That amount is just perfect, because the bus tomorrow should be 15,000 kip leaving me 6000 for buying a final sandwich.

Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010--Vientiane to Nong Khai (Part 1)

I made some good decisions this morning. I awoke earlier than necessary, since I was planning to take the 9:30 bus across the border. My plan was to go get a sandwich at the usual place for 6000 kip, return to the hotel to check out, and walk to the bus station. In the back of my mind, however, I kept thinking that the 9:30 bus would probably be the most popular. That made me worry that all the seats might be pre-sold by the time I made it to the station. Since I was up at 6:15, I decided to skip the sandwich and rush to try to catch the 7:30 bus.

When I arrived at the bus station at 7:05, I had no problems getting a ticket for the bus. But there was one surprise. Last weekend was the birthday of the Queen of Thailand. When I went to the bus station to check the ticket price, the schedule sign showed 15,000 kip, but a paper sign on the window said "Holiday Today, 17,000 kip." Well, that same paper sign was still up today and everyone was paying 17,000 for their tickets. Apparently, it is the "normal" price in spite of the wording of the sign. If I had bought the sandwich before coming to the station as I had planned, I would have been 2000 kip short in terms of buying my ticket. The ticket itself only said 15,000 kip, however. My guess is that the woman who works the ticket window gets paid the extra 2000 kip per ticket as her salary. Anyway, deciding to skip the sandwich and deciding to take the 7:30 bus instead of the one at 9:30 proved to be great decisions.

While waiting for the bus, a woman came up selling sandwiches and a type of pastry. I asked the price of the pastry, and she said it was 5000 kip. I told her I was sorry because I only had 4000 kip. She pointed to the sandwiches and said they were 2000 kip. I bought one, since the money would be no good to me once I left the country. It was not the quality of the sandwiches I have bought before. It was mostly cucumber and a thin layer of something creamy inside. And the baguette was of poor quality (like what they sell at HEB) rather than the wonderful crusty ones for the better sandwiches I have been having. (Isn't it a pity that HEB has never made the effort to produce decent quality bread even at their Central Market stores?)

The bus was full of Lao people traveling across the river to shop in Thailand. They have special border passes which they can use within a certain distance--much like Mexicans can cross to shop in Texas as long as they stay inside the Border Patrol checkpoints. There was only one other tourist besides me. One woman had a small boy in her arms, so I offered the child the final 2000 kips (24 cents US) that I still had.

Crossing was not problem, although the men on the Lao side were rather slow at checking everything. Normally LEAVING a country is the fast process. But Lao is a Communist country, so I guess trying to control people is still a priority for them. In Thailand, it went much faster.

There was a pleasant surprise after we crossed the bridge and completed Thai immigration and customs. The bus came all the way into the town of Nong Khai. In all my research, every reference to the bus said that it would stop at the International Bus Station which was about 4 km (2.5 miles) west of town near the bridge. I was prepared to walk a long way to get into town, and I even asked a man if I would be closer to town by walking from the bridge than by staying on the bus to the station. Well, the bus turned and went all the way into town to the local bus station. None of my websites had indicated that would happen. I only had to walk about 5 blocks to get to where I had planned to stay.

I had three choices picked out for consideration as my new lodging. One was the Huan Lai Apartments, another was the Thai Nong Khai Guest House, and the other was the Friendship Guest House which doesn't have a website but has received good reviews. Because of the prices and locations, that was my order of preference. I passed by the Friendship Guest House on the way, but I didn't stop, since it was a bit outside the center of town and only my third choice; I figured I could go back if necessary. I stopped at the Huan Lai and looked. It was an apartment complex like where I have stayed in other cities. The room was fine, but a bit plain and on the fifth floor without an elevator. Also, wifi was available only in the lobby. The Thai Nong Khai Guest House is near there, so I went to it as my second choice. It consists of bungalows scattered in a garden area back behind the buildings that are facing the street in the block. It was $4.50 more per day, but it had wifi in the room. Also, the price was for an individual bungalow (not a duplex) that is large and bright and has a small garden sitting area outside. I decided to pay the extra price for the privacy and the convenience of staying there for $17 per night. I never went back to check on the Friendship Guest House.