Vientiane, Laos

We started this morning by setting the alarm and walking up to the bus station to purchase our rickets for later on in the day. We wanted to catch a night train in the city that our bus would be arriving on so we had to plan the times carefully. We have had really good luck with time schedules in Laos (they actually exist here) so we figured we would be fine with the time the ticket said. Just for safe measures, we arrived a bit early. The sun was pretty gruelling and the moisture in the air combined with 12 buses worth of exhaust was making it a little hard to sit still and wait for our bus. It arrived early and boarded people on with enough time left to actually be puntual. Laos, you amaze us. Also, when we got on the bus we sat where our bums plopped. This was not acceptable to the woman who was in charge of getting everyone organized and she promptly directed to our pre assigned seats. They were even labeled. Wow! The bus we took was a 90 minute local bus from vientiane to a town just south of the Thai border called nong khai. It was really painless and the organizer girl was there with us the whole step of the way at both borders making sure we and our visas were ok. She even escorted us back to the bus that actually waited for us! Once in nong khai we recieved a few strange looks at the fact that we wanted to catch a connecting sleeper train to Bangkok and didn't have tickets. At the beginning of the trip this may have made my stomach turn but as the saying goes, "hakuna matatta", we have morphed onto super laid back zen machines and decided to chance it. And surprise! There was tons of space! The train wasn't leaving until 620 so we sat and stole some Internet and chatted with a very drunk American guy. He told us that he had also learned the ways of hakuna matatta. Yes my friend, yes you have. From nong khai the train was scheduled to be 11 hours so we bought some sandwhichs and chips and got aboard. To our dissapoontment it appeared that there were no sleepers like we has paid for and a terrible excuse for air con that we had upgraded for. Turned out we were just in the wrong car. Phew! It didn't look like there were any sleepers in our car either but the guy assured us that we were in the right place so we waited and watched it unfold. The two seats on the bottom turned out be one fold out bed that connected in the middle and the strange wall shape at the top folded out like a drawer into a bed!! The train worker came over and made our beds a well! They were definitely superior to any other train "sleeper" that we have had the misfortune of riding. The beds were pretty comfy and norm actually stood a chance at sleeping with his legs straight out in it. His head and feet were touching both ends but hey, this is a huge improvement. Unfortunitley the overhead lights stayed on all night so sleeping straight wasn't exactly an option. over all though, best sleep ever on a train or bus thus far. When we got off of the train we marvelled at the size of the station. It reminded me of a European train station. Certainly a lot dirtier and void of class but it resembled a world that we have almost started to forget. The heavens were definitely looking out for us this time because when we got out of the station we were miraculously at the metro station that our hostel was apparently a few minutes walk from. What are the chances? In Bangkok!? As we turned the corner off of a smelly and noisy street our Siam classic hostel emerged with a zen vibe and an outdoor patio. Wifi, air con and a shower.. The best way to end a 20 hour travel day.