How many flat tires does it take to get to Laos?

Not one...not two..... no, not even three. But thats a later story. We got tired of the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, so we booked overnight train seats to the border town of Nong Khai, 12 hours away. The train was pretty enjoyable as we met a crazy french guy named Gilles (Jill) who was just off the wall bonkers. After a few beers with him and his Australian friend Alex we hit the sack and slept surprisingly well.


Nong Khai was a quiet and surprisingly clean little town on the Mekong. The main attraction was a sculpture park that was about a 3 mile walk from our guest house in the blazing heat. The park was loaded with crazy Hindu sculptures of  6 headed snaked and 8 armed godesses. On the way we also got to see this 18th century temple that fell into the Mekong due to erosion. Only a little tip of it is visible during the dry season (now).

This morning we woke up bright and early to tackle the Thai-Laos border crossing. After getting our visas stamped out of Thailand we crossed this enormous bring called the "friendship bridge" into Laos. The visa was $35 and we were on our way to Vientiane to try and catch a bus to Vang Vieng where tubing is on the agenda. Upon arrival in Vientiane we are bombarded with drivers ready to go to Vang Vieng. We brokered a deal with one guy but we needed Laos Kip (the local currency) so we hit up an ATM while he waited. While at the ATM we were approached by another driver offering us a cheaper rate, so we bit. We walked down the street and around the corner and loaded our bags up on the minibus and paid the guy. The guy dissappeared (presumably to find more people for the ride). We sat in the bus and waited, but our original driver showed up and started yelling at us about not coming back to him. It turns out the bus we are in is actually his and the guy we gave our money to doesn't even know him. It was all an intricate scam and we had be played like a fiddle. We took our bags back and sat back on the curb trying to figure out how we had just been ripped for $7.50 a piece. Riley and Ashley stayed with the bags while Alex and I pumped up our muscles and hit the streets looking for our little friend. We found him at the same ATM and grabbed him. He knew the gig was up but he had already done something with the money, so we only managed to squeeze a few dollars out of him.

There is far more to the story but I'm running up quite and internet bill (75 cents)

Garrett