Backstory

After an 8 hour motorcycle ride through the mountains, I am so freakin' tired (but a good kind of tired, like after a day of skiing) that I don't have energy to do anything more than check my email. I'll update on that tomorrow.

Here's the post that I missed- I was able to upload it finally. It's the backstory of our group's reunion in Bangkok on Saturday, and our trek to Laos. Here goes:

There were squealish girly giggles of glee at the Bangkok train station the Dana, Meaghan and I saw each other. Finally we meet again, and in Bangkok of all places!

We bummed around Bangkok for the day, basically doing what we do best: eating and shopping. We had until 8pm that night to catch the overnight train to Laos. The good news: it was only 13 hours, not the original 21. The bad news: We had a choice to make. Do we select 3rd class for less than $8 and chance it? Or 2nd class sleeper for double the price?

They chose 3rd class (though in fairness to Meaghan, her vote was for the sleeper). I wanted to be part of the group, but jet lag has been tough on me and I simply couldn’t do it. I figured $8 was a small price to pay for 13 hours for an overnight bed on a train, even if I had to forego the promised “camaraderie” and “view of the countryside” that Meaghan had promised me.

It was a rough night for me. The train was a rickety old bone shaker if I ever saw one and the mattress was anything but comfortable. And strangest of all, it was cold that night! I tied my hoodie tied up over my head and put on a pair of socks, which helped, but not enough. I finally stuck my head under the covers; even then I was only marginally warm.

The next morning I felt pretty bad. But after one look at the rest of the posse after I got off the train, I almost laughed. Some random comments were, “the worst 13 hours of my life!” “I froze my ass off!” “I finally just slept on the grimy train floor!” I just laughed. Serves the cheapskates right! All they had were individual upright plastic seats, and the car was packed.

So anyway, we arrived in Laos yesterday morning, completely exhausted from basically no sleep, but happy at the new stamps and VISAs that decorated our passports. We took up at a guesthouse (hostel) for less than $2 a night each. The only problem was that they only had 2 available bedrooms with 2 twin beds apiece. So Dana, Ben and I took one room, squashed the twins together and slept horizontally. Not bad, considering. (Though I do have a sore back, but it’s no wonder as I haven’t slept in a proper bed since last Tuesday night, when I was still in Canada…)

We’re in the capital city of Vientiane (pronounced “Vin-chin” by the locals). It has a very charming, peaceful feel, unlike Bangkok. It’s a similar feel to Thailand, but a little more laid back. We’re close to the Mekong river, which actually isn’t as picturesque as you might imagine. Mostly this is because the water levels seem really low, so you can see a lot of the brown shore. Vientiane actually reminds me of the Phuket because there’s a lot of shore and view of the water (though the Mekong river is not near as nice as the Indian ocean) and there’s just a quaint, lazy feel in the air, like no one’s in much of a hurry.


We ate lunch on the river, sitting Indian style. Dreadfully tired, we flaked out on the ground and napped while we waited for our food. The rest of the afternoon was nice; we strolled around searching for places to rent motorcycles for the week (unsuccessful so far), crammed 5 of us on tuk-tuks to get around, and had Indian food for dinner.

By 7:00am we all flaked out on 2 of the twin beds, crowded around a laptop and watched a couple episodes of “The Office”. I was asleep by 8:00pm.

Today we leave Vientiane, hopefully on motorbikes, and start exploring the countryside of Laos!

P.S. Here's a pic I forgot to post taken in Bangkok.