The Amazing Race: Next Pit Stop = Laos

Today I only had one class in the morning as some of my later morning students are going to school now, so once again, my schedule is changing. After my accounting class I planned some more lessons and then watched dance class.

We then went on another one of our amazing race adventures to the northern part of Bangkok to apply for a Lao Visa. I say this is another part of our amazing race adventure, as often times when Misty and I are doing something new, such as taking a new bus or the subway, which we took today, we feel like we are a part of the Amazing Race. We made up this other team that we are constantly completing against, and of course, constantly beating. So today we had our first big adventure in the Subway. This was nothing like the one I experienced in Toronto. Underground it looked like the inside of an airport. You waited behind sliding doors for it to arrive and then you boarded. The ride was not bad overall, however I do not think someone who is the least bit claustrophobic would really enjoy it. After arriving at our destination we signaled for a taxi and were off again to find the Embassy. It seems like it is on the outskirts of Bangkok as the streets were much different than they are closer to where we live. I would describe it more like a Burnside Park than a Spring Garden Road. A lot of auto dealerships were also located here. Unfortunately our limited budget does not include a nice new BMW or Lexus. Maybe next time Acadia.

When we arrived at the main entrance of the Embassy one of the guards looked at us and said Visa? Obviously he knew why we were there. We went inside, filled out a form, presented our passport and a lovely picture of ourselves, paid $61 CDN and then waited an hour and everything was done. I’d say mostly painless, minus the charge. We have been told that we could also get the VISA at the border however we were scared to take that risk, especially during the holidays.

So back in a taxi and back to the subway we go. We took it to one of the interchange stations with the BTS and decided to walk from there. Our next stop was one of the local pubs where we bought a small supper so we could take full use of the free wifi internet service. The pub was kind of sketchy as it was dimly lit, the food was terrible and it was not too exciting to watch fat ‘farangs’ (Foreigners) play pool and grope young Thai women who are wearing far too little. However, the free wifi was a definite draw and it kept us there way longer than it should have. We had the chance to look up a lot of information about our upcoming vacation/adventure to Chiang Mai, Thailand and Laos.

On the way home we found an amazing used bookstore where I was able to pick up the latest Lonely Planet book for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Greater Mekong as well as a book called Street Kid.

So far we have a few ideas and a few definite plans. We are flying to Chiang Mai on Thursday where we will spend some time exploring the area, possibly going on a trekking tour with some of the hill tribes, riding elephants and enjoying the Songkhran festivities. Than we were take a 7 hour bus ride (obviously this is NOT our highlight) up to the ‘Golden Triangle,’ take a ferry across the river into Laos and then take a slow boat down the Mekong River for two days with a pit stop in one of the villages. Our final destination will be Luang Prabang, Laos. Here we plan to take in some of the UNESCO heritage sites as well as some of the more nature things such as the waterfalls. We are not sure how we are going to go back to Chiang Mai to catch our return flight as we are trying to find a route that does not require us to go back down the river the same way we came, and does not cost a fortune. We have looked into some flights but they cost more to fly that short a distance than it has cost us to fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and back again. One of the reasons for this is there is only really one airline that flies the route so there is no competition from other airlines. We cannot find a bus as there are no real roads going back in that direction. One option we have is taking a speed boat for 6 hours back down the river. However, from what I have read, these are not always the safest options. We still have some time to decide, and hopefully when we get there more options will present themselves.

That is about all of the news I have for now. I am going to do some more planning and watch a movie with Misty tonight. My advice to anyone who plans on working at the Mercy Centre next year….burn as many movies ahead of time as you possibly can. This advice was given to us and I cannot even begin to tell you how useful it is! I do not know what we would do without our movies, especially since we do not have a television or internet.

It looks like our picking up wireless these past few days was a tease. I knew it was too good to be true. Now when we pick up a wireless signal, we have to sign up to pay for your minutes. Oh well, the free internet was good while it lasted.