After recovering from way too much eating on Thursday and the end of the work week on Friday, Kiki and I decided to plan a trip to Thailand on Saturday. Since she had to do a visa run anyways, it made sense to do a day long adventure.
Having promised a Mailly family skype session, I was up at 6:45 am making coffee and trying to keep my eyes open. Two hours and many faces later, Kiki and I headed out the door to the Talat Sao bus station. We were hoping to catch a bus directly to Udon Thani, but because they only sell tickets the day of, it was sold out until the afternoon. We took our chances of catching one once in Thailand and got on the local bus to the friendship bridge.
Immigration was really quiet and we both made it through the border police very quickly. We caught a bus across the bridge, filled out our Thailand entry forms and made our way through the final checkpoint. We were quickly offered rides for $15 directly to Udon but instead got a tuk-tuk to the bus station and proceeded to wait for the next hour for the bus. It wasn't as abad as it sounds because we got to sit on the AC bus munching on banana chips and newly discovered dried kiwi slices. The bus finally left the station en route to Udon.
Just outside the city limits we heard a loud popping noise and were told to get off the bus. Many people were shuttled into tuk-tuks and Kiki and I hopped into another one (our first female driver!) to the shopping center. We're pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the bus, but that the drivers get commissioned to shuttle falangs around town.
We arrived at the mall and it was like stepping into another world. The bottom floor food court had a Dunkin Donuts and the grocery store carried everything from Heinz ketchup to Kiki's favorite biscuits. Having very few baht to our name, we found an exchange counter to switch over some money. The bank was very careful and insisted on copying Kiki's passport with the money we were changing. It looked like a wanted and reward sign...
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| Wanted! |
As planned, we went upstairs and bought tickets to go see Twilight, the only movie showing in english. Kettle corn in hand, I entered the theater with VERY low expectations and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. In any case, it was great to just enjoy the AC, comfy seats and big screen.
Not sure when the last bus was leaving Udon for Vientiane, we left the mall and walked to the bus station, stopping to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree and decorations. When we got to the station, we found that the last bus was leaving in 5 minutes. We got so lucky!
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| With her striped shirt it's like "Where's Waldo" Christmas Edition |
The journey back was uneventful and significantly quicker than the ride there. Now we know to catch the direct bus and get to Talat Sao early. We arrived back to the city around 9 and decided to try the new Turkish restaurant for dinner. Perhaps one of the best meals each of us have had in Laos!
We will definitely return for hummus...
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