May 20, Bangkok to Nong Khai

Hello from Vientiane, capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. In most cases I'd say that I've never been to a sleepier capital city, but I have been to Palau and the Federated State of Micronesia, so that wouldn't be exactly true, would it?

Though we are already in Laos, I'm going to split up my posts so that they're easier to follow.

Shelly and I have had a smooth trip so far, with nothing but a little rain slowing us down. We used a couple of soon-to-expire upgrade certificates for our flight here, which turned out to be a great thing, as rather than being bumped from coach to business, our flight was upgagued to a three-class 747, and we were bumped to first class seats (albeit with business class service). Not a bad way to start a vacation.

The day started on a bad note, as we had to deliver Mister Tanaka to the vet again before our flight. He has yet another infection and a not-unexpected complication from his surgery, and we didn't feel like we should ask any of our friends or neighbors to take care of a sick cat. I hate that he has to live at the vet for 10 days, but there wasn't much in the way of alternatives.

It was raining when we landed in Bangkok, but it had stopped by the time we reached the main train station. Bangkok seems much more put together than Manila, and our trip downtown was smooth. The driver and I established that we are both fat, and that I have a few kilos more than him, but that was about the extent of our conversation.

We bought our train tickets, stowed our bags at the left luggage facility (really, just a corner of Hualamphong Station) and headed out for a few hours of sight-seeing, including a stop at Jim Thompson's House, the former home of the Delaware-born founder of the Thai Silk Company, who disappeared in 1967 while on vacation in Malaysia. The house was beautiful, the tour was interesting, and Bangkok's public transportation system made it easy to visit. After a visit to Starbucks (won't be any of those where we're going!) and dinner at a very casual local restaurant, we headed for the train station and boarded out 8:45 pm train for Nong Khai, on the Thai-Laos border. Departing exactly on time, we were soon zipping through Bangkok's northern outskirts. The conductor came by and made up our bunks, and earlier than either of us expected, we were out for the night. Before we knew it, it was daylight, and we were approaching Nong Khai, the end of the line.