The First Run of 2012: Our Thai Visa Run to Laos

Vientiane, Laos ~ Young Buddhist monks walking alongside the Mekong river. Thailand is just across the river to the right.

“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” –Lao Tzu

Jo and I love a good run. In fact, we just did the Chiang Mai half-marathon this past Christmas day. We’ve been doing marathons and triathlons for nearly four years now, and we never get tired of the benefits that fitness has brought us.

Your health is your biggest asset in life. Let your health go, and you’ll have to divert time, money, and attention to it, while everything else becomes secondary. This is true not only for physical but also mental health.

Long-term travel to other countries will really challenge you mentally. We always love a challenge, and last week we exercised our travel chops more as we went on our first ever Thailand-Laos visa run.

We had to leave Thailand as our thirty day visa-on-arrival was about to expire. The nearest other country that we could do a quick run to from Chiang-Mai is Laos. Since we had never been to Laos, it was a perfect excuse to go!

Here was the rough itinerary:

1. Take the overnight bus from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani
2. At Udon Thani, transfer to bus for Nong Khai
3. From Nong Khai, cross the Mekong river border via the Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge
4. Arrive in Vientiane the next day in time for lunch.

Of course, the key to long-term travel is flexibility. Plan for the best, prepare for the worst, and be glad for anything in between. Having said that, here’s how the “run for the border” unfolded:

We purchased our ticket a few days ahead at the Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal. We made sure to purchase a VIP bus ticket, as we knew the journey would be twelve hours.

On departure day, we arrived early to the bus terminal with about an hour to spare. When possible we like to be early to reduce the pressure of having to sprint to the gate.

We had time to wander around the terminal a little, and to our surprise found that a competing bus company with the same route as ours had coaches that were cleaner, larger, and of overall better quality than ours. The kicker was that the ticket was the same price!

Excited for the run!

If you’re thinking about doing this run, here’s a note so that you get the better bus: Buy your VIP bus ticket from window #14, and don’t get it from #13.

Our bus departed on schedule at 8PM…it was of great consolation, since we had heard that Lao bus service was notorious for running late. We tried to get sleep as best we could, considering the seats on buses never recline as well as they do on a plane or a sleeper train.

In the middle of the night, a loud voice boomed through the coach: “Toilet! Toilet!”. It was the scheduled 1AM toilet stop.

The journey continued, and at 4:00AM…another toilet stop. Only this time it turned out not to be an official one. We were being kicked off of the bus. Apparently, another bus had broken down farther back, and our bus was being dispatched to go help while a different bus would come to pick us up.

30 minutes later, our replacement bus arrived. Relieved that we were on the road again, we settled in to try to get a little more sleep before we would arrive in Udon Thani at 8AM.

Of course there was another unscheduled stop at 5AM. More amused now than annoyed, we awoke to find our driver had laid out five small plastic children’s chairs in the aisle. We couldn’t help but smile as five Thais took their seats in the middle of the aisle. We were now officially a “full flight”.

Two hours later, we dropped off our “kiddie chair” passengers. I thought for sure their legs would be totally numb from sitting that long in such tiny seats. I know mine would be.

8AM came and went. We were late. Unsurprised, we weren’t put off. We’d been on the bus for 12 hours, what was a few more? Besides, we weren’t catching a connecting trip. We still had a whole day to reach Vientiane.

Shortly after 9AM, we pulled into Udon Thani. Whew! Thirteen hours. Almost there. Just a few more transfers and we could check into our guesthouse and relax.

Jo is all smiles the 13-hour bus ride. We're at the home stretch!

We found a bus that was leaving for Nong Khai, and bought a ticket for 8000Kip (approx. $1). The trip would be about 20Km, a walk in the park compared with the 13-hour slog we had just completed.

About 30 minutes later, the bus stopped and an older gentleman stepped aboard exclaiming in broken English, “OK! Lao immigration stop here. If you need visa, come with me!”

Still tired from the lack of sleep the night before, we got caught up in the moment. Joining another passenger and grabbing our things, we quickly loaded them onto the tuk-tuk as we watched our bus drive off.

Jo and I looked at each other, and without words each of us knew exactly what the other was thinking. What had we just done? This man was not official. He had no uniform nor did he present any ID to substantiate his claim that he was indeed part of immigration.

It didn’t help that the other passenger with us in the tuk-tuk did not speak much English. I asked him, “Do you know where he’s taking us?” The stoic shrug of his shoulders in response only served to discourage us even more about our decision to leave the bus.

Just as concern grew into panic, a welcome sight: The sign indicating 1Km before the Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge came into view. A big feeling of relief came over us. We were with the right person after all.

Unexpectedly, the tuk-tuk stopped in front a hotel just 500 meters short of the border. An official-looking sign indicated “Visas Issued Here” out front. A man came out and met us at the side of the road.

“You go to Laos?” he asked, to which I said yes. “Where you from?” he said. “USA.” I replied.

“OK, we can do your visa for Laos here.”

My scam antenna was up now from the earlier episode with the tuk-tuk, so I calmly asked the man, “How much?” Of course he had no idea that I had done my research on visas for Americans entering Laos. With an authoritative voice, he answered “2000 baht each.” I quickly did the math in my head to figure this was $130.

I suspected it, but now I knew for certain this was the setup I had heard about from my other traveler friends. If we agreed, we would end up paying this guy double the price for our visas, and the tuk-tuk driver would get a kick back for bringing us to him.

The correct visa fee is $35 per person to enter Laos. I told the man no thanks, it’s too much. He relented, adding that that the fee would take care of the visas and direct transport to Vientiane.

Even with the convenience of direct transport into Vientiane, we knew that it was still overpriced. In unison, Jo and I said “No thanks,” to which he replied “OK, thank you sir!” and waved the tuk-tuk driver onward. Whew!  Some quick thinking and firm posturing saved us a chunk of change!

Crossing the Mekong from Thailand and over into Laos via the Friendship Bridge

We made it over the Friendship Bridge, a 10-minute bus ride that delivered us to the Lao immigration checkpoint where we waited in the visa-on-arrival line. There is only one window open here at all times, so you can expect to wait as there are busloads of tourists arriving all day long.

Jo and I wait patiently in the visa-on-arrival line. It's already been 14 hours, what's two more?

An hour and a half later, passports in hand…we set off for the home stretch.

A 40-minute taxi ride, and we finally made it to our guesthouse. It was 4PM. We had been on the go for twenty hours. We found a local restaurant called “The Three Sisters”, and celebrated with a hearty Lao meal of spring rolls, minced pork noodle fried rice, papaya salad, and a 24oz bottle of Beerlao.

All that for the amazing low price of…50,000Kip($6). We’re loving travel here in SE Asia. We continue to learn and grow, while the experience continues to reward us with money well-saved, and time well-spent!

Planning your own round-the-world trip?  We found a great resource for planning your visas in advance before traveling. The Visa Book by Christine Gilbert is our go-to reference whenever we venture into a new country.  Get your copy today!