Its been a mad couple of months where i have been away from the computer alot and then not in much of a mood to work on it anyway. But with all the stress of the sale over I’m now back on form and will start by updating on a few of the things that have gone on.
Firstly my mad dash to Vientiane when I realised that yet again I had mis- read the dates on my passport and had just 5 days in which to get an extension to my non-immigrant b visa. That was on a Friday and in the end we left Chiang Mai on the Monday night, after collecting the relevant paperwork from my lawyer in the morning.
The first laborious 12 hour bus journey got us to Udonthani at 8am on the Tuesday morning, at a cost of 600 baht each, (maybe 620 i can’t recall exactly).
Then another 30 baht each got us from Udon to Nong Khai by around 9am.
Making the age old mistake of not sorting the price first we then got a tuk tuk to the border crossing, stopping first at an agents where we booked one night in a hotel in Vientiane. We knew we’d be paying a little over the odds but i wanted to relax as much as possible.
The tuk tuk driver took us for 200baht, way overcharge!
Getting through the border was simple enough, and because we had booked the room the hotel had sent a minibus to pick us up and we were at the hotel by 11am. Having already decided to treat the trip as a mini holiday we were in no rush and spent the rest of the daylight hours in our room, showering and sleeping.
In the evening we found a very nice restaurant 5 minutes walk up the road. Well, the restaurant was nice, and the food excellent, shame that the service was very much on the slow side and barely a smile to be seen.
We then did a little bit of shopping at a couple of clothes shops before returning to the hotel to watch movies in our room.
By all accounts there is no Cinema in Vientiane!
In the morning we headed over to the Thai Consulate where I put in my application for my visa extension. That took around an hours queuing.
We had hired bicycles from the hotel and after putting in the application we went first to a nearby massage shop, for Thai massage, and then for food at a local cafe.
One of the noticeable things about Vientiane, especially in comparison to Chiang Mai, is the distinct lack of cafes or restaurants. Mobile phones appear to much more important than food there, as every other shop appeared to cater to your every communication need.
After some time at the famous concrete Gate and a bit more clothes shopping we returned for more scowls at the French Restaurant up the road, before taking another early night. We just didn’t find any inspiration for a decent night out there.
On Wednesday morning Boon has to catch the bus to Nong Khai. Unbelievably Thais get only 3 day passes. We had bought 2 but he still had to leave the country and re-enter to activate the new pass. 
My visa pick up was between 1 and 3pm. Waiting for Boon to return I spent time at the Memorial Gate, watching life go by in this sleepiest of capital cities.
Collecting the 3 month Visa extension(cost-2000) , took around an hour again. After which we went for a swim at a complex we had spotted the day before.
For 150 baht each we had access to the 3 pools available.
For a little extra we could have taken advantage of the multiple water slides.
For the complex owners it was a shame to see such an impressive place so empty. For us, wanting a quiet relaxing dip, it was perfect.
At the entrance to the complex is a cafe/bakery which sells very good coffee, shakes and excellent bakery products. It was our best find in Vientiane.
We ended up spending one more day, visiting Wat Phratat Luang, a large Temple complex.
Outside the Temple complex is a gigantic tarmacked recreation area where we watched many youngsters playing football, riding bicycles and stunt riding on motorcys.
We then spent more time at the swimming pool.
I have to say that although we had a nice enough time, I would not rush to go again. Whilst we were there the visible pollution in the air seemed worse even than Chiang Mai at its peak periods.
Groups of heavily armed soldiers on several street corners, albeit looking fairly relaxed, and the unshakable feeling that you are being watched made it not so comfortable for me.
So Friday saw us leave Lao and travel to Udon where we decided to stay for one night.
Having booked into The Karin Hotel (400baht double aircon), we took a stroll around town.
Now Udon, a place I’d always imagined as being quiet, turns out to be quite a thriving place.
Visiting the large shopping Mall we witnessed a bustling city centre around the Mall. Very close to the Mall were lively looking Night Clubs and a live music bar restaurant right opposite.
Much higher on my list of return journeys than Vientiane.
After spending the day wandering the town, buying t-shirts and catching an afternoon movie at the shopping mall we caught the night bus on Saturday evening and arrived back in Chiang Mai bright and early on the Sunday morning.
for more photos from this trip please visit our photobucket album here.
The road, on the whole, is very good and for the most part was quite empty.
The guest house had a very nice friendly feel to it, had a range of accommodation, from dorm beds to air con rooms. We settled on a double room with fan.
Having breakfast, I was joined by another guest, Martin, a German guy who had been living in America for 6 years. We discovered that we were heading in roughly the same direction and struck up a plan to travel together.Martin was a funny guy, after we convinced him to hire a motorcy, ( having never ridden one before), he then took an awfully long time tying his bags on, being somewhat overcautious. But each to his own:).
When the rain receded we carried on, very carefully, to our destination.
Beautiful , but not so big, after about 40 minutes there we decided to head back down and on to Maesai.
Boon went ahead with Martin to find some help. I carried on down, walking the bike, until they returned just 10 minutes later with a foot pump, borrowed from a repair shop nearby. After putting enough air in so that I could ride it slowly, we took the bike down to the workshop, where a very friendly guy replaced the inner tube in 10 minutes.Whilst waiting, some of the mechanics friends offered us local Thai ‘whiskey’. Not wanting to appear impolite, I accepted a small glass of the clear liquid, that tasted more like schnapps. Just as well that I just had the 1….it was extremely potent.
When we arrived there were many people there sitting outside the house, under a rough lean-to, drinking Thai whiskey. It was an interesting night, we received a warm welcome and the various people did their best to chat with us through Somboon.The striplight we were sitting under attracted hundreds of winged insects.
Waking early with a headache I joined boons aunt and younger brother as the boy prepared for school.
Sure enough the insects from the night before had been de-winged and fried up.
After breakfast we called in at the next ‘uncle’ who lived in one of the traditional wooden stilted houses, where another uncle was busy woodworking. This family was obviously better off and we were even able to get a heated shower and a more substantial breakfast. We stayed for nearly an hour, during which time I was offered a similar house down the lane.
Off for our next tour destination, 
