Laos: Four Thousand Islands. According to the index of happy old age, Russia is between Laos and Nepal Documents for a visa to Laos

1.10.2013 19:49

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Russia was in 78th place in the index ranking happy old age. Russia's place ended up between, frankly speaking, not the richest countries - Nepal and Laos. The rating was compiled by experts from the non-governmental organization HelpAge International.

The purpose of the rating is to assess the quality of life of older people around the world. The compilers of the rating took into account 13 different parameters for 4 key areas: health status, material security, education and employment, respect for civil liberties and the level of safety.

The top 10 according to the happy aging index included Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, Dutch, Canadians, Swiss, residents of New Zealand, the USA, Iceland and the Japanese.

All BRICS countries were higher than the Russian Federation in the ranking: Brazil was in 31st place, China – in 35th, South Africa – in 65th, India – in 73rd. The last places in the ranking, which included 91 countries, were taken by Afghanistan, Tanzania and Pakistan.

According to researchers, some countries with low level incomes were in the top positions. Thus, Sri Lanka took 36th place in the ranking, which, according to experts, is caused by long-term investments in education and healthcare, and Bolivia, which is the poorest in the Latin American region, is in 46th place.

HelpAge International was founded in 1983. Its founders were five organizations that decided to consolidate their efforts to help older people cope with various difficulties caused by poverty and discrimination. Currently, the organization has about 100 representative offices operating in 65 countries.

Note:

A new rating compiled by independent financial experts has been published.

Answer to a 5 letter crossword puzzle starting with the letter K:

CHINA

What does the word mean CHINA in dictionaries:

• Question: "An inexhaustible source" of counterfeit goods- answer: CHINA
• "Celestial Empire"
• Great Wall Address
• Asian power
• An Asian country where representatives of the fair sex are put on wooden stocks from early childhood to maintain miniature legs until marriage
• In which Asian country Are "cricket fights" especially popular?
• In which country were Sinanthropus - primitive people - found?
• In which country did badminton originate?
• In which country did they first use decimals?
• In which country did noodles first appear?
• Which country produces the most fish?
• Which country has the most people?
• Which country has the most camels today?
• Which country has the longest wall in the world?
• In which country did the first paper money appear?
• In which country did the world's first restaurants appear?
• In which country did the first guns appear?
• In which country did the first theatrical puppets appear?
• In what country did the compass originate?
• In which country was the toothbrush invented?
• In which country was sauerkraut invented?
• In which country did the Yellow Turban uprising take place?
• In which country does the Disney film Mulan take place?
• In which country does the film "Shanghai Express" starring Marlene Dietrich take place?
• In which country was the world's first printing press created?
• Which country did the Silk Road lead to?
• In the name of this state you can hear a mammal and the exclamation
• Owner of Taiwan
• Second largest US lender after Japan
• Where does Andersen's fairy tale "The Nightingale" take place?
• State in Asia
• Borders India and Russia
• Borders with Russia
• Until 1912, the flag of this country was an image of a dragon on a yellow background.
• Do residents of this country consume snake meat the most in food?
• Shy country
• What country does the orange tree come from?
• Which country fenced itself off with the Great Wall?
• Which country launched the Neptune spy satellite into space in John Grisham's novel The Broker?
• Which country has the domain "cn"?
• To which country does the world owe the invention of toilet paper?
• What country do sinologists study?
• Where are almost all the poached rhino horns sold?
• Between Russia and India
• The name of this country comes from the name of a group of Mongolian tribes - the Khitans
• Name the state whose symbol is a mythical animal with the antlers of a deer, the paws of a tiger, the ears of a bull, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the claws of an eagle?
• Napoleon believed that right beyond the Urals the...
• One of the nicknames of the son of Yuri Dolgoruky - Andrei Bogolyubsky, under whom the construction of the Moscow Kremlin began
• Through which country did the CER pass?
• Celestial country
• Riga is Latvia, and Beijing?
• Mao's birthplace
• Birthplace of Mao Zedong
• The homeland and patrimony of ruler Mao
• The birthplace of inexpensive goods
• The birthplace of silk and paper
• The birthplace of silk and gunpowder
• Close to Laos and Vietnam
• Close to Nepal and Laos
• Largest country in Asia
• The most populous country
• A collection of short stories by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, "A Slow Boat in CHINA"
• Neighbor of India and Russia
• Country hidden behind the wall
• The Mongols called the capital of this state Khanbalik.
• The country is the main supplier of the world's population
• Country of Lee and Chans
• Country around Beijing
• Ming Dynasty Country
• The country behind the "Great Wall"
• Country of Wushu and Kungfu Fans
• A country led by the city of Beijing
• Country with a billion people
• Country with the farthest point from all oceans
• The country with the world's largest theater
• Country with capital Beijing
• A country where the yuan is in use
• The country where fireworks first appeared
• The country where acupuncture was born fifty centuries ago
• The country that gave the world gunpowder
• The country that gave the world silk and umbrellas
• The country famous for the wall
• A country full of rice lovers
• A country full of rice gourmets
• Country, supplier of every fifth inhabitant of the Earth
• Country, birthplace of paper
• Country, birthplace of wallpaper
• Country, birthplace of the Pekingese
• Country, birthplace of gunpowder
• Country, birthplace of porcelain
• The country known as the birthplace of acupuncture
• A country that has two problems: quality and quantity
• Area around Beijing
• The third country in the world to send a manned spacecraft into space
• Which one Asian state capital Beijing?
• Which country has the most borders with other countries?
• Which country has the longest border in the world?
• Although, as you know, freshness comes only first, in the cuisine of this country there is a recipe for “soup of three freshnesses”
• in the photo there are red flags with stars

And also about how to get back from Laos to Thailand :) and a little about the peculiarities of crossing the Thailand-Laos and Laos-Thailand borders.

Border crossings Thailand - Laos

In the northern part of Thailand and Laos, the main border crossings are:

1. Chiang Khong - Huai Xai. It is convenient to use it if your next route lies in Luang Prabang.
2. Nong Khai - Vientiane. It is convenient to use if your main goal is a visa to Laos, i.e. obtaining a Thai visa in Vientiane or visiting Vang Vieng.
3. Transfer to Huay Con (Nan Province) – Muang Nguyen. This border crossing between Thailand and Laos is not yet very popular among tourists, but it is quite convenient for those who cannot spend 3 days and 2 nights traveling between Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang, but want to sail a boat along the Mekong. From Huai Kon to the village of Pak Beng, where boats from Huai Xai to Luang Prabang stop overnight during the two-day route, it is only about a 2-hour drive.

There are other border crossings between Thailand and Laos, but tourists mainly use the first two. If your goal is only a visa, then use the second border crossing, but if your goal is travel and vacation in Laos, then the route can start either from Huay Xai (or immediately from Luang Prabang) and move south, or from Vientiane and move north. By the way, for some reason all travel by bus from south to north is cheaper.

How to get to Laos from Chiang Mai

How to get to Huai Xai from Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai – Chiang Khon – Huai Xai

1. Take a direct Green Bus to the border town of Chiang Khon. Buses depart from Arcade Bus Terminal, it is better to buy bus tickets in advance - when we were traveling, there were no empty seats on the bus!

Three flights per day: 8:00, 9:30 and 14:30. The drive takes about 5.5 hours.

The cost of VIP class tickets (huge comfortable seats) is 406 baht, regular tickets are 266 baht. Comfortable bus with toilet. Cookies and water are provided along the way.

Queue for Green Bus tickets. It is advisable to buy tickets in advance
Our bus Chiang Mai - Chiang Khong
You don’t mind paying extra for VIP class! Very comfortable seats on the bus and a delicious snack :)

2. The bus stops 3 km from the border, where you need to change to a tuk-tuk. The cost of travel in a tuk-tuk is 50 baht per person, the price is fixed, there is no use in haggling.

A tuk-tuk to the border costs 50 baht per person, the ride is only 3 km

3. After passing the border on the Laotian side, a tuk-tuk will also be waiting for you and will take you to the center of Huai Xai for 100 baht or 25,000 kip.

Chiang Mai – Chiang Rai – Chiang Khon – Huai Xai

1. Bus tickets Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai (Green Bus) 165 baht. The bus runs frequently.

2. From Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong, buses depart every hour from 6 am to 5 pm from both the old bus station in the city center and the new bus station on the outskirts of the city. The fare is 65 baht.

Despite the fact that Thailand usually has good, comfortable buses, for some reason an old bus without air conditioning runs on this route! Travel time is 2-2.5 hours.

How to get to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai

You can easily and quickly get to Chiang Mai by plane. The cost of the flight is not low - from 150 dollars. But if you calculate the money and time costs of traveling by land and water and compare it with the cost of a plane ticket, then on vacation or if you don’t have time, you can use this option. To be honest, I was wondering if we could fly to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai, but I’m glad that I chose the boat route along the Mekong. Still, such a trip left an indelible impression :)

On the ground

Get to Huay Xai using the methods described above, and then take the Huay Xai – Luang Prabang bus. Two flights a day: at 12:00 and at 16:00. Ticket price 120,000 – 130,000 kip (~$15). Travel time from 12 hours.

I must say that I did not consider this option to get to Luang Prabang - I had read horror stories about the terrible road, drunk bus drivers and accidents on the roads.

By land and water (option 1)

Get to Huay Xai, and then buy a boat ticket on the Mekong

• The slow boat travels for two days, stopping overnight at Pakbeng. Cost Huay Xai - Luang Prabang - 220,000 kip
• A fast boat goes - floats - rushes through the water for only 6 hours (but what 6 hours! They say that it’s even more extreme!) - cost 320,000 kip

By land and water (option 2)

Use the border crossing Huay Con - Muang Nguyen. I don't know exactly how to get to this border. public transport, but I know that Green Bus has buses to the city of Nan.

Also in Chiang Mai you can buy a tour along the route Chiang Mai - Huay Kon - Muang Nguyen (overnight) - Pak Beng - boat to Luang Prabang. This journey takes 2 days and one night and costs approximately 1,700 baht per person including all travel and one overnight stay.

Now a bridge is being completed near the village of Pakbeng and perhaps some regular buses will be launched soon.

A bridge is being completed near the village of Pakbeng in Laos, which means transport will soon be allowed in and tourism will begin to develop even faster

How to get to Vientiane from Chiang Mai

By bus via Udon Thani

1. From Chiang Mai, get to the city of Udon Thani, which is located 50 km from the Thailand-Laos border. Several bus companies operate in Udon Thani; tickets can be purchased at the Arcade Bus Terminal. Some buses stop in Udon Thani near the Central Plaza in the city center, some at the bus station on the outskirts of the city.

The cost of a bus ticket Chiang Mai - Udon Thani is 650 baht first class, 840 baht - VIP class. Travel time is about 12 hours.

2. Get to the border. If you come to the Central Plaza in Udon Thani, then from there minibuses go to the border for 50 baht per person. The drive is about an hour.

You can also walk a few meters and buy a ticket at the central bus station international bus to , the cost of a bus ticket from Udon Thani to Vientiane is 80 baht. Travel time is 2 – 2.5 hours. BUT:

• The first bus leaves quite late, around 8:30 – 9:00 in the morning, and if your goal is to apply for a Thai visa at the consulate on the same day, then you may not be able to make it in time or you may be on time. About our experience of obtaining a Thai visa in Laos.
• Despite the fact that Russians do not need a visa to Laos for up to 15 days, they do not always sell tickets for the international bus Udon Thani - Vientiane without a visa in the passport. But for us (Ukrainians and Belarusians) this option is not suitable - the bus will not wait until we get a visa to Laos at the border.

3. After crossing the border, you can get to Vientiane by tuk-tuk - 100,000 kip for the whole tuk-tuk or by bus No. 14 for only 6,000 kip or 30 baht.

The bus will take you to Khua Din bus station.

If you are not in a hurry, then you can get to the city cheaply from the border on this bus. Just 30 baht or 6000 kip and about 40 minutes on the road and you are at the bus station in Vientiane

By bus via Nong Khai

From Chiang Mai you can take a bus directly to the border town of Nong Khai. Previously, there was only one bus on this route, but in December there were at least three :) Bus Chiang Mai - Nong Khai VIP class, with comfortable wide seats (2+1 in a row, not 2+2), warm blankets and delicious food . Ticket price 840 baht.

I advise you not to waste money and choose this particular bus - you can sleep quite comfortably in it at night.

I advise you to choose a VIP class bus with comfortable seats for overnight travel. And the food is good everywhere :) The bus arrives at bus station

Nong Khai, from which you can take a tuk-tuk to the border for 50 baht per person or a direct bus to Vientiane for 55 baht. Buses to Vientiane depart at 7:30, 9:30, 12:40, 14:30, 15:30 and 18:00.

How to get to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai

You can also leave from Nong Khai bus station directly to Vang Vieng at 9:40 for 270 baht.

The low-cost airline Nok Air has a very convenient flight Chiang Mai - Udon Thani. If you buy tickets in advance, you can get tickets for only 800-900 baht per person and you don’t have to sit on the bus all night :)

From Udonani Airport you can get to the border by minibus for 200 baht per person. Travel time is about an hour.

How to get to Laos from Bangkok

How to get to Luang Prabang from Chiang Mai

Duty free on the Laos – Thailand border

I really wanted to go to Duty Free before the New Year and buy alcoholic drinks. Laotian Duty Free was a disappointment, perhaps everything was sold out before the holidays, or perhaps it’s always like this there, BUT: there was no Martini, no Martini Asti, I had to take Lambrusco (only red was available) for $15 - I didn’t like the drink at Christmas... I also bought it several bottles of beer with mangosteen flavor (!). Nothing so sweet :) We didn’t find any candies or Belgian chocolate in Laotian Duty Free either.

By the way, this Duty Free is located in a very unusual way: not between countries on neutral territory, not after passport control, but before Laotian border! Those. if you live in Vientiane, you can safely go to Duty Free for drinks on bus number 14 :)

Laotian Duty Free is located before passport control

Features of the Thai-Laotian border

Thailand's border with Laos at Chiang Khong and Nong Khai follows the Mekong River. The bridge across the Mekong between Chiang Khong and Huai Xai was built quite recently; previously they were transported across the border by boats :)

Border Thailand - Laos (Chiang Khong - Huai Xai)

We took a tuk-tuk to the border from the highway for 50 baht per person and saw a new, almost empty building :) Nearby there is a free toilet (clean) and a currency exchange. At passport control, the employee looked at my passport for a very long time with 3 Thai visas and asked questions about what I was doing in Thailand, but still let me go. Although he couldn’t not let me out...

Border crossing Thailand Laos

To get from Thailand to Laos you need to cross the Friendship Bridge by bus. The cost of a bus ticket depends on the time of day and day of the week.

• 20 baht from 8:30 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 16:30 and 25 baht from 6:00 to 8:30, from 12:00 to 13:00 and from 16:30 to 18:00 on weekdays days
• 25 baht on holidays and weekends

The border is open from 6:00 to 18:00.

We buy bus tickets to travel across the Mekong Bridge between Thailand and Laos
And here is the bus itself, on which we have to travel literally 5 minutes

We take the bus across the bridge over the Mekong, get out, and now we are almost in Laos :) We approach the Visa on Arrival window, where you need to pick up a form to fill out and a migration card.

Visa to Laos for Russians up to 15 days need not. If you have a Russian passport and want to stay in Laos for up to 15 days, then fill out only the migration card and immediately go to passport control. If you want to stay in Laos for a longer period, you need to fill out an application and get a visa for 30 days.

Visa to Laos for Ukrainians and Belarusians needed, issued right at the border.

Documents for a visa to Laos:

• Passport
• Completed form
• One photo
• 30 dollars (if you don’t have dollars, you can either buy them right there at the bank or pay in Thai baht, but not at a favorable rate)

A visa to Laos for 30 days can be obtained at the border without any problems

We filled out forms, handed over documents and literally 10 minutes later received passports with visas. Although I read that visa processing can take an hour or an hour and a half. We were in no hurry, but they gave us our passports quickly. The visa was immediately stamped with an entry stamp, so there was no need to go to passport control, but we went straight to Laos :) Everything was quick, clear and easy, but the process still took about an hour. On the Laotian side, currency exchange is at the normal rate. You can immediately withdraw money from the card.

If you do not need a visa, then you need to go straight to passport control. And with the received visa, go straight to the city
On the Laotian side there is a currency exchange with a normal rate and several ATMs

Border Laos - Thailand (Vientiane - Nong Khai)

There were many, many people on the Laos-Thailand border. After Duty Free, we went through passport control and stood in line to buy a card to exit Laos!

Since we crossed the border on a weekday and before 16:00, we received such a card for free, but for crossing the border on weekends or from 6:00 to 8:00 and from 16:00 to 22:00, foreigners are charged a fee 11,000 kip or 50 baht.

The Vientiane-Nong Khai border operates from 6:00 to 22:00.

To cross the border, you need to get (and sometimes buy) a card like this and immediately throw it at the turnstile, like in the subway
Cost of crossing the Laos-Thailand border

We buy bus tickets over the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong (20 baht or 4,000 kip) and in a few minutes we are on the Thai side. And here there are even more people at passport control! This is, of course, not under New Year, but there are a lot of people.

Waiting for the bus from Laos to Thailand
The queue to enter Thailand is amazing in size
I wonder if there are always so many people here or is it full because of the New Year?

While we are standing in line, we fill out migration cards. The sun is very hot, hot, stuffy, there is nowhere to sit. We stood in line for over an hour. Fortunately, the border guards didn’t ask any questions, didn’t ask for tickets from Thailand, or 20,000 baht per person ($700), although we had supplies with us just for such a case, they simply stamped us and let us go home to Thailand ! That's it, we're home :)

I hope this article helped you decide how to get to Laos from Thailand. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments!

I’ve been in Laos for more than 10 days, but, to be honest, I still haven’t understood why everyone is so wildly delighted with it.

Compared to all the previous countries, there’s nothing special to see here (though I’ve only been to the southern half of Laos so far, I hope it will be more interesting in the north), the nature is completely ordinary to my taste, spoiled by the beauty of Indonesia, the people are a little frostbitten, although, probably, after Indonesia and Malaysia, all residents of Southeast Asia will seem closed and cold. And what upsets/angers me most of all is the constant brazen attempts of “transport department employees” to rip off 1.5-3 times more money than they are entitled to. Moreover, this is done completely openly, in front of the locals, and the price does not fall to normal - they insist on their own, which exceeds all reasonable limits.

So far I have liked the people only in a few villages in the very south of the country - in those places where foreigners are rare guests. They greeted us with a joyful “Start it up!”, i.e. Laotian “Sabai-dii”, and all the children, in addition, waved their hands. And in villages often visited by tourists, in addition to this, they also asked for pens and money.

For the rest of the inhabitants of Laos, you are like a ghost - they simply do not notice you, and if they notice, they do it in such a way that it would be better not to notice. And on the faces of everyone working on the tour. business, wild fatigue from foreigners is written. In this regard, Laos is similar to Thailand.

English is rarely and poorly spoken here, although perhaps this is a problem for all nations whose alphabet differs from Latin, and, moreover, the language is a tone one. They don’t try to help here if you are standing there looking confused or clearly in need of help, and in response to simple questions you most often hear “no”, three times in a row for greater persuasiveness. Many don't even try to understand what you want from them. Of course, there are exceptions to all of the above, but they are rare and generally unnoticeable.

Here, with the exception of those few villages where people were very friendly and nice, they did not smile, but simply looked without emotion on their faces. Although, if you smile at them, they will answer the same.

It seems to me that they don’t want tourists here. Every day I feel like a colonialist who, after half a century of “freedom,” has returned and is not welcome here.

It all started at the border, when a Laotian border guard, for his work at odd hours, i.e. from Friday evening to Sunday evening, demanded overtime pay. Work and overtime hours hung above his window, but nothing was said about the amount of extortion. Only in a separate sign nearby did we find “entry fee for Laos – one dollar.” But the guy stubbornly wanted three from each, and we stubbornly sent him. As a result, we agreed on 1.5 per person, although the foreigner in front of us paid two dollars for herself, and Ksyukha was leaving a week later the same border crossing on Sunday she sent me a text message asking me to pay one dollar.

Welcome to Lao PDR i.e. People's Democratic Republic of Laos.

What immediately catches your eye is the countless number of tourists: both individually and in organized groups. It seems that even in Thailand I have not seen so many of them and so everywhere. Because it’s fashionable to travel to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, everyone goes, and I will go. What a blessing that Myanmar and Indonesia, apart from Bali, are not fashionable destinations. Wherever there are no tourists, the nicest people live: in Syria, Myanmar, Indonesia. But mass tourism somehow does not affect Malaysia - apparently, Malaysians are immune from the bad influence of foreign tourists.

And here between the cities there are unexpectedly excellent asphalt roads with kilometer posts indicating the distance to the next city and different cities Laos, and excellent, smooth dirt roads leading to the villages. If there are cars, they are brand new air-conditioned SUVs. They are, however, rare.

There are very few motorbikes and almost no cars in Laos, so the roads are spacious and quiet, and passing or oncoming traffic is rare. And therefore Laos - perfect place for cycling or motorbike travel.

Everywhere there is mobile connection, everyone has a brand new Nokia, and it’s possible in the most unexpected places find the Internet.

Larger villages have several Western Union points. But in general, you can pay either in kip (local currency) or in dollars - the latter is usually more profitable, but they are not accepted everywhere.

For the first time in eight months since Myanmar, I discovered right-hand traffic and left-hand drives. During the first few days I still couldn’t figure out which side of the bus I needed to get on, and to this day the driver sitting on the left seems somehow unnatural.

Hammocks were clearly invented in Laos. Here, almost every village house has a hammock suspended in/under/next to the house, in which one of the family rests.

People like to drink here. The assortment includes local beer BeerLao, yellow boxes of which with empty beer bottles are everywhere next to many houses. And Lao Lao, a local rice wine, is sold for pennies.

Communism is gradually being replaced by capitalism, but visible traces of communism still remain: red flags with a hammer and sickle, red ties on the necks of schoolchildren, however, this somehow very much depends on the area, our UAZs driving on the roads, and the likelihood of meeting a local, speaking Russian.

There are strange foods sold on the streets and at bus stops. Chicken and quail eggs are not taken out from under the bird immediately, but are kept almost until the last, then they are taken away, boiled and sold. You peel an egg, suspecting nothing, and there is an embryo there. The abomination is incredible, and for the locals it is a delicacy. There are eggs in the middle stage, there is no yolk in them, inside there is a homogeneous light gray mass with black dots - the locals chew them half a dozen at a time and with great pleasure. They also sell fried grasshoppers strung on a stick - also an incredibly popular product among the locals.

The whole country consists of villages. Even Vientiane at first glance looks like a village, albeit a large one with stone houses in the center. Most of the villages are ordinary, but the villages of small nations look very colorful and traditional - they consist of tiny bamboo huts, the people make full use of pottery and jugs, and women and girls wear traditionally embroidered sarongs.

After the border, Ksenia and I drove 40 km to Pakse (Pakse) for 1.5 dollars per person, although the guy initially wanted five per person. Everything around me was somehow too contradictory to what I expected to see. Excellent asphalt road, I'm not traveling in a broken-down bus, but in an air-conditioned SUV.

At the bus station in Pakse, we waited for four hours for our bus to leave, and no one could say exactly what time the bus would leave, at 2 or 3 p.m. The bus eventually left at 16:00, but we had a very pleasant wait. In a cafe, I was fed soup with meat of unknown origin, the name of which in Lao my aunt couldn’t find in my phrasebook, but I hope she was just looking hard. And they drank beer - there is a lot of it here, and it is cheap. And a friendly and smiling man came up to us local, who, having learned that we were from Russia, began to speak to us in Russian. It turned out that he had long ago studied in Moscow to be a border guard, but he had already forgotten his Russian, but he spoke English fluently.

In four hours we traveled on a large and comfortable bus with reclining soft seats, clean curtains and a floor spit on by passengers to the town Attaps (Attapeu), where we checked in for $7 per Double Room with its own bathroom, TV with satellite channels, air conditioning, toilet paper, soap, drinking water and clean bed linen.

Results of the day: swore in Russian with a border guard who was extorting a bribe, drove in his first Laotian air-conditioned SUV on an excellent road, spoke in Russian with a former Moscow student, almost ate quail fetuses, giving this opportunity to a bus station dog by throwing a bag of quail eggs out of the window bus, I ate soup with the meat of an unknown animal, and we both ate pies with “kittens”, i.e. baguettes with filling of unknown origin.

Conclusions of the day: we need to be more careful when communicating in Russian, we don’t want to eat eggs anymore, we eat meat only if someone managed to convey to us in a language we know who this meat belongs to, and no more baguettes with unknown fillings .

Surprise of the day: Having looked at the stamp in the passport, I discovered that the Laotian border guard gave us a period of stay until 01/02/2008, although the calendar shows November 4, and we requested a visa in Bangkok for 30 days. For several days I was tormented by the question: did the border guard mix up the numbers, or did they change the rules? I posted a question on the LP forum, where they finally answered me that the other day the Laotians, completely unexpectedly for everyone, changed the rules, and now a visa obtained at the consulate gives 60 days at the border. Hooray!