Udonthani & Crossing Laos Border (Day1, Part1)

Laos and Thailand is a very close neighbour and from the North East Thailand border is only separated by the mighty Mekong river in between.  We flew to Udonthani province (Thailand) from Bangkok which is the border city to cross to Laos.  At first, I thought this city would be just like a tiny outback little town but surprisingly turned out to be quite metropolis and modern too somehow.  Heaps of hip bars and trendy restaurants that you can easily find in Bangkok, all the big franchises and chains, Udonthani have got it all here.  The whether outside the airport was pretty cool not that burning hot like Bangkok and what impress me the most was that how clean and tidy of the city is.  This city is also named as one of a gateway to Laos. 

We left Bangkok very early in the morning, because the journey ahead still long.  It's also possible to just fly directly to Vientiane, Laos from Bangkok.  But we prefer this way for more adventurous and of course more economical way.  Just a reminder for anyone who wanna do domestic flight from Bangkok and especially with the carry on baggage, the custom there is quite strict, unlike in Sydney where domestic they won't check for any liquid you bring in, but here in Bangkok they not allowed any liquid more than 100 ml, it's pretty much the same like when you flying overseas.

After arriving at Udonthani, we grabbed some breakfast at the local porridge and noodle shop before heading to Laos.



Jok Moo - Pork Congee

Chicken Kedgeree

Then we had a bit of walk in the UD Town, is like the centre of the city with heaps of trendy restaurants and shopping.  And at night they have this huge huge night bazaar in UD Town (I'll leave the review about this UD Town on the last blog of this Thailand's trip, so stay tuned guys).

Now, we continue our journey by driving from Udonthani to the egdes of border area between Thailand and Laos at Nong Khai province that took us about 45 mins until we reach the immigration at the Thai - Laos Friendship bridge.  We need to clear the custom here for visitor prior to getting into Lao DPR.


Thai custom and immigration





Welcome to Lao PDR



See, when I told you guys that Laos and Thai is only separated by majestic Mekong river so we only need to accross the Thai - Lao friendship bridge which links Nong Khai (Thailand) with Vientiane.  Voila !!  We arrive in another country.  Feeling so much like when you gonna cross the boarder to Mexico from the states.  It's that easy.



Steering wheel is on the left hand side

The interesting thing I've noticed is that in Thailand, the car uses right hand steering wheels which practically same like in Australia whereas in Laos is the opposite.  But most of Laotian or Thais who live near by the border area know how to flick their head around easily.  This is because they are so used to coming in and out between this 2 country.  For instance, my friend brought her Laos' car accross Thai border just to pick us up from Udonthani, Thailand and she drove back with the same car back to Laos.  I mean she can just swift straight away without getting any confusion on the road.  Although, she done this many times already, still very smart!!!

Keep on reading for the next blog in Laos:

Kong View Restaurant, Vientiane