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19 November
Laos to.... as far as we get!
KIM: This is the part of the trip I have been agonizing over for some time. I just wasn't sure how on earth we were going to get down to Siem Reap by 21 November. We could take the round about Laos way - 4000 Islands, but it seemed like hard work and without that much reward as we wouldn't be able to stay. The other option the travel agents were trying to sell was a bus back to Bangkok and another bus out to Siem Reap but for 2000B each!
After much forum discussions, I had figured we'd make do it ourselves and make our way through Thailand and out to the border at Aranyaprathet, hopefully saving ourselves some cash.
The day started early with a tuk tuk via the Scandanavian bakery (not to be missed in Laos!) to the bus station where we bought two local bus tickets to Khon Kaen for the bargain price of 200B each (in town the travel agencies were charging 580B each!). The local bus with only two other western faces on it departed at 8.15 to the friendship bridge between Laos and Thailand over the Mekong River. Stamped out of Laos and with a sudden sadness to say goodbye to this beautiful country, we crossed over to Nong Khai to stamp back in to Thailand. Sawasadee Ka! (have to practice the lingo again)
Arriving in Khon Kaen some 2 or 3 hours later, Mark stepped out and asked the first person he saw for a bus to Khorat.. lucky for us, there was one about to leave in about fifteen minutes. We bordered this bus, and amongst the 6 people on it, we were now the only two western faces. Really big seats with huge recline area.. we have to wonder about why we've never traveled local buses before. The big price tag on the tourist buses doesn't seem worth it now. This bus was only 151B each.
3 or four hours later we arrived in Khorat where English is not spoken at all. By pointing at our little map we found the bus parked in its bay that was going to be taking us out to the border.. and for only 190B each! After much broken conversation, we worked out that the bus would arrive at the border at 7.30pm. Considering the border closed at 8pm, we could still cross over.. however in the dark and I wasn't too sure but we were on our way already so we figured that we'd just work it out when we got there!
As the night fell, I wasn't sure where we were... and was getting more and more anxious about crossing what is already described as one of the dodgier border crossings, where even the police and officials being corrupt and scammers. Thankfully, between the driver and the hostess on the bus (the only two left) we realized we weren't going to make it to the border before 8pm anyway... and so within five minutes they had pulled the bus over outside a little motel where we should stay. We didn't have much option... and so arriving at the front desk we were slightly worried about the price tag, but at only 350B for an a/c room and a 5min walk from the border we were all smiles!
Dinner in this random little location about 5 minutes from the border was interesting... we ended up with the most expensive Tom Yam soup (no hot please) that we'll ever eat. It was tasty though. In bed and ready for our early morning crossing into Cambodia!
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