Couple hours in Vientienne and the all to familiar Bangkok

After Vang Vieng we decided to go straight to Bangkok as we had misjudged the amount of days we had. That and my very good friend Alasdair (Al) who I know from my undergrad and lives in B'ham was coming over to Thailand with his wife, her sister and boyfriend and we wanted to spend some time with them since I missed them England this time around.

We took a treacherous bus ride from Vang Vieng to Vientienne (the capital) that took about 3 hours. From there we took the over night train to Bangkok but we had a few hours in Vientienne so we planned to meet with an Aussie guy and girl that we met in Luang Prabang. They were staying there for awhile (she was born in Laos but moved as a kid to Melbourne but her sister is working in Laos now so they had their digs). We had a few drinks and walked around the city -- which is a very clean, nice and pleasant city on the river. We had been overloaded with temples by this point so we just had a look around and a few more drinks.

The overnight train to Bangkok was good -- we decided to be posh and get a 1st class cabin so we ended up having our own little cabin with proper beds for the 13 hour journey. After eating some ridiculously spicy food we bedded down and had a decent sleep.

BANGKOK

Once in Bangkok we did not do too much except do some shopping in Ko San Road and in Siam Square (MBK Centre). We bought a great deal of clothes for Xmas gifts for Amy's family and a few last items for ourselves.

Bangkok is a mad-place full of backpackers and to be honest it hasnt changed a bit since I was there. Tuk-tuk drivers trying to rip everyone off, backpackers overflowing on the streets (in Ko San at least), etc etc.

Unfortunately, we arrived during the general elections - as many of you may remember there was a peaceful coup a year ago and these election were to install the new gov't. As part of elections in Thailand they do not serve alcohol for 3 days during election times. Its a clever move -- but not the best for those who want to have a few drinks. At any rate, once we met with Al they had found an establishment that served alcohol on the down-low -- so we spent a few hours there getting involved. The following day we went to the movies at MBK where you pay about $15 a piece for luxury viewing. You get a blanket, pillow and a HUGE recliner to watch the movie in. You can order food and they bring it to you inside -- obviously we took advantage of this little treat. We saw 'I am Legend' which was really good and pretty intense...having to come out to the wildness of Bangkok was a little too much for us to deal with given the movie...but all the same we were ok.

On our way back to the guest house we ran into Al and Helena (they were meant to come with us but for some bizarre reason we missed them at the meeting point)...from there we had a few drinks and went to the night market which is really nice as there are no farangs (foreigners) there. You can pick up clothes that not every other person is wearing!

That night Al and I drank til about 6am as we hadnt had a good catch up -- it was tough getting up at 9am the next day - but I am a pro at this now so it wasnt too bad.

After lunch with Al and company we made our way to the airport only to find out that the luggage limits from asia to australia are 20kg each!! (normally its 2x32kg per person). with all the shopping that we did we had to pay $500 in excess luggage!!! we were floored and stuck with the decision of whether to dump what we bought or take it with us and bit the bullet....we ended up biting the bullet on it as we figured its only money....

From Bangkok it was off to Sydney, connector to Brisbane, Brisbane to Mackay and then Mackay to Brampton Island where we would be married in 2 days!!