The family picked me up at 0700 Monday morning, and drove me to the local bus station; this is an open air restaurant. I knew I was in for a surprise when the staff told us the fare would be two dollars and thirty cents Canadian for the 75 kilometer trip to the border city of Nong Khai. The bus appeared right on time..a twenty year old school bus, modified for these type of trips...seats removed for luggage at the back, other seats installed for some comfort, and a door on the left side, front and back which were never shut for the entire trip. We started with 13 passengers, and as we went along, people along the road waved us down, got on at the back, and the ticket taker would go tend to them. At some places, we stopped and the ticket person delivered parcels. After three hours, we arrived at the border, and that ride was over. I had to do lots of paper work for the Lao Visa, but my friends did not require one. After lunch and the usual hour for processing, another vehicle took us to the hotel Vientiane SP in down town Vientiane. We checked in and settled, then set out to explore this city, sometimes called the Paris of Asia.
I will keep this page short. My computer is working ok, but the internet is totally unreliable. I have done this page twice to get this far. I expect to do an update before departing here for Bangkok on Friday afternoon.
I note my team , Saskatchewan defeated Ottawa on Sunday. Now, watch as they beat Toronto next weekend, and go on to play and be beaten by Calgary in the National Drunk, also sometimes called the Gray Cup!!!.
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