Throughout July, I’ll be writing about my post-trip accounting and evaluation of my Southeast Asian month-long backpacking trip. This includes the costs of each leg of the trip and reviews of accommodation and transportation.

First up is my travel expenses in Vientiane, Laos. I planned on staying in the capital for four days, but I left for Bangkok early, taking the bus instead of the train. Vientiane can be easily done in one day, two days if you plan on going to places in the outskirts of town.
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A songthaew picked me up at the guesthouse just a little past 5pm yesterday afternoon. It made a couple more stops, picking other passengers from the other guesthouses in the area. I guess I miss talking to people, since I started a conversation with the traveler who was picked up after me, and the third traveler as well. It was the usual small talk between fellow travelers (where are you from, how long are you traveling, what do you do, etc.), but it was great to connect with others. Once the group was complete, the driver started driving out of the city center, to what we assumed was to the bus station.

A lovely welcome at HI Sukhumvit

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This was quite an expensive leg of the trip, specially since I took the plane from Bangkok. Living expenses in Luang Prabang isn’t too expensive though.
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Though I walked a lot yesterday, I still had a hard time sleeping last night. I suppose I’m too aware of my surroundings (and freaked out by it), or I’m just too excited about going back to Thailand. I was still up by 1am, re-watching Voice episodes for the nth time. When I got tired of watching them, I switched over to the video shorts that has been sent via e-mail or leeched from YouTube. By 3am, I forced myself to turn off the computer and the lights to get some sleep.

Breakfast at the Scandanavian Bakery

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Today was actually quite good. Due to yesterday’s terrible experience with that tuk-tuk driver and my miserable room (which I totally brought upon myself, I admit), I was ready to hate Vientiane.

Internet service just for fun

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It’s 5:45pm, I just got into Vientiane and I’m already thinking of how I’m going to get out. Not that there’s anything wrong with the city, it’s just that I need to be back in Bangkok before the 18th, and it’s already Friday tomorrow, so I need to book myself train tickets back to Thailand.

Luang Prabang bus station

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To stay or not to stay, that has been the question in my mind these past days. I’m liking the pace of life here in Luang Prabang, but the boredom is starting to get to me. There’s really not much you can do in Luang Prabang. Oh, there’s the trekking, but that’s not my thing. There are 30-something Wats around, but they all start to look the same afterwards. This morning, I popped into the travel agent’s office and bought my ticket to Vientiane.

Best croissant ever from Joma Cafe

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I wanted to wake up early, to walk around the town before it gets too hot. But I had such great sleep last night that I put off waking up until past 8am. It wasn’t until 9:30 that I was able to leave Vilay Guesthouse. I walk down the road towards the Mekong, and walked parallel the main road, heading towards the town center.

Yuiichiro and Sayuri at Luang Prabang

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