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Ok this blog won't be very interesting - rather it will be more of a grumble about Thailand's new changes to their visas...
But first off we left Vang Vieng that saturday and endure a crazy suicidal drive to Vientiane, the capital of Laos which is situated right on the border with Thailand. Having talked to other travellers we were pre-warned that this town did not much have much to offer and so we only planned to be here in transit for one night on our way to Thailand...sure enough Aza Andy and I wandered around town in search of some excitement (ie a happening restaurant or place to be) and found nothing...which came as a huge adjustment after Tubing! Eventually we gave up and ended up having a few beers at the guesthouse and playing cards with a couple of locals...a great chilled out way to end our our Laos experience, a country that we simply LOVED...
So visa changes: due to Thailand's unstability of late, the Thai government changed their visa allowances without any warning on the 4th of december 08 which meant that upon entry into Thailand via land, tourists only received a 15-day visa instead of the usual 30days. This has caught so many people off guard and has generated a lot of frustration and anger. The only way to have longer is to arrive via air (international flight) or do an expensive 'border run' whilst in Thailand = wasting time and money in order to get to the border and re-enter again). Another way was to apply for a 60day vias although this takes atleast 3 working days and we simple did not have the time to waste (as we would have waited over a weekend as well).
Despite having booked all our return flights and others things (accommodation, diving courses) we were told that they would grant no exceptions....so we further blew our budget again by buying an expensive flight into Thailand. At the time we weren't happy, but in hindsight it was great to travel so much faster (it would have been 15 hours via land) and Thai Airways itself was topnotch! It was great to experience a little luxury...!!!
And we were very lucky to have found out about the changes prior to attempting to enter Thailand, unlike so many others who have found out too late...! The rest of our 'group' (way back from the Mekong Delta trip) and found out too late and just recently spent a whole week travelling down to Malaysia and back to Thailand as well as costing 4000baht in order to receive another 15days stamped on their passport....so to anyone reading this about to enter Thailand be pre-warned! However we have heard that Thailand will be amending this 'change' back to the usual 30days in a few weeks time...
Ok, the grumble is over now! To summarise - Laos is a fantastic country (and way too many people somehow omit it from their itineraries which is a huge mistake) and we can't wait to go back....Now onto Thailand and (unfortunately) the last leg of our adventure....!!
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