The temperature is rising fast so before we melt we’ve decided to head for a beach in Thailand where, hopefully, it’ll be a little cooler.

Laos has been an interesting experience. The gentle people and relaxed pace of life are great, but It’s nowhere near as cheap as we had been led to believe. $8US trips in Vietnam are costing $30US here. There is a charge to enter several small wats, and even to go up a hill in Luang Prabang!! Rooms are not as good value as Thailand and Vietnam and certainly not what is quoted in Lonely Planet. The food is equally inflated in price. It’s almost as if Laos has suddenly woken up to the fact that the tourist $ is good news so we’re going to charge more, a lot more.

In fact, we calculate based on LP rates published Aug 2007, approx 150% tourist inflation. It’s a pity as there would have been a number of trips/things that we and a number of more savvy travellers would have done. It’s still cheap compared to prices back home, but nowhere near what it should cost based on the local cost of living. Someone somewhere is making mega profits because the money is not going to ‘Joe Public‘! It wasn’t so much the cost that put us off. It was the fact that the money didn’t seem to be getting where it belonged…….to the people still living in wooden huts (if they were lucky) and to those kids still without a pair of shoes. Interestingly there were a few brand new 4 x 4 pickups about!

We do have a small confession to make. We’ve been running down the Laos Kip to make sure that we don’t have loads left before we leave. On our last night in Tha Khaek we had food and drinks but miscalculated.…….we were 500 Kip short of being able to pay the bill. So, we left what we had and did a runner!! Phew we got away with it ……We left owing 4p!!

Crossing the border from Laos to Thailand was pretty easy but not without the additional charges we have come to love and expect!! It was Saturday so overtime for the immigration guys. $1US in Laos and $0.30US in Thailand (see point above on inflation!). Arrival in Thailand and after immigration, Port Tax, $1.50US!

Then the bus journey. We made a knee jerk decision on the ferry (the journey took all of 5 minutes) to travel North instead of West. This took us to Nong Khai and it’s turned out to be a nice town. However, what it really means is that we had a 5 hour bus journey down The Mekong through Laos from Vientiane to Tha Khaek to do a trip that didn’t happen because of the cost and hassle. Then we crossed The Mekong into Thailand and travelled 7 hours by bus up The Mekong to arrive in Nong Khai. We are now on the opposite side of The Mekong to Vientiane where we started about a week ago. In fact, at night we can see the lights of Vientiane……are we dumb or what!!………..or have we become bus masochists secretly enjoying the numb arse and the endless crap Thai singalong karaoke pop videos???

Not much to do here, it’s just a place to hang out in cheap accommodation and cheap but good food. There is a Chedi sitting in the middle of The Mekong. It started it’s slide into the middle way back in 1847 and is only visible in the dry season. Look at the pics and you’ll see that the local people dress it with flags when the river drops. There is also a new Chedi (see pics) in the original position to the old before it went slideabouts. It’s worth noting that The Mekong rises on average 13 metres during the wet season……about as high as a house! Imagine how much water that might be……13mts high by at least 250mts width here in Nong Khai…….wow!!