Laos

So I made it here safe and sound to Laos after taking the 12 hour overnight train from Bangkok to Vientiane. The border crossing into Laos was the most complicated one I have ever made. First I had to pay 20 baht (less than a dollar) to board a second train to go to the border, once we got there we got off and had to fill out some paperwork and since I didn't have a secondary photo to attach to this application I had to pay 40 extra baht (about a $1.50) there was a very long line and the whole process took quite a while but after paying roughly 35 USD I got my stamp and on we went. 

Kev and I looked and looked for a place to stay and most were booked full but we ran into a large group of Canadians from the train and all of us booked into the same place. It was alright for the night. Just today we have booked an overnight sleeper bus (with beds) down to Pakse in southern Laos close to the Cambodian border because we will be traveling thru to Siem Reap after roughly a week or so. 

Laos is totally different from Thailand and after the hectic-ness of Bangkok it is a nice change of pace. Life is much slower here.  Less people speak English here than in Thailand but it is still fairly easy to get what you want. Here in Laos they accept the Thai Baht but, their money is the Kip. It is pretty wild getting used to this Kip. There is about 30 Baht (roughly figured) in a USD. there is about 40,000 Kip in 10 baht so you will go out and spend 10,000 Kip on a soft drink! It isn't much in reality but it seems like so much!

I miss Thailand (and the Baht lol) but overall I do enjoy Laos is a good change and I am looking forward to seeing what Laos has to offer us. I will keep in touch as much as I can. Oh ya, I wanted to mention one other thing about Bangkok. I got a shave by a little Thai man who spoke no English with a straight razor. I was nervous and I only was charged less than 3 USD but he did an amazing job and didn't even nick me! Best shave of my life it was amazing and I twill totally go for it again and recommend it to any guy.

-Tyler