We slowly make our way with our packs through the crowded market streets to where our Stray Bus is parked. We will have a long travel day today to get to Ubon Ratchathani where we will catch the night train back to Bangkok.
The drive back to Pakse was fairly uneventful. We had been through this way the day before, so most of us nodded off or listened to music. In Pakse we stopped to get some snacks and stretch our legs.
It was then a 1 hour drive to the Laos-Thailand border. The bus let us out in front of a big white building where the boarder agents would process our passports to leave Laos. We said goodbye to our driver and Lao guide there, as they would be returning further north to catch another group coming through.
Before we went over to the get in line with the agents, I took a stroll along the street to see what the vendor booths had to offer. There were lots of interesting stalls with what looked like plenty of deals to be had, but we were on a tight schedule to catch our next mode of transportation. In the short time I had, I found a stall with some nice, traditional skirt fabrics, and I bought two for 40k Kip each. A bit on the pricey side, but by then I was being rushed to join the others in the queue for the boarder agents and had no time to haggle further.
We were able to get our passports exit-stamped quite easily, and then began to head with our packs down the street through the no-man's land between the two boarder gates. I was surprised at the number of vendors in this area, including a fairly permanent branch of a local bank.
We entered Thailand through a large tunnel of gates between a series of fences (there were no fences on the Laos side), and entered the Thai immigration control building. We had a short form to fill out, and then were through immigration in no time. They also x-rayed our bags before we were allowed in to the country.
'Thank heaven for 7-Eleven!'
As we exited out the other side of the Thai immigration building, we were by that time very hot and exhausted from the sweltering heat that day, magnified from carrying our now-heavy packs. So you can see why we were so very excited to see amongst the shops nearby a 7-Eleven. A big gulp is definitely what I needed and just to stand in the heavily air conditioned environment for a few minutes to chill. We hadn't seen a 7-Eleven since we had exited Thailand at the beginning of our trip.
After loading up on some snacks and drinks, we found a big, silver air-conditioned Travel Van waiting to drive us to the Ubon-Ratchathani train station. The whole hour-or-so long ride we watched these cheesy Thai music and dance videos. We're talking really bad ones. But by that point in the trip we were finding them incredibly humorous.
We had several hours to kill before our night train departed, so we checked our bags with the luggage attendant and four of us set out on a expedition to find a place for a massage.
We walked for about a mile toward one our Stray guide had gone to before, only to find it had seemingly closed up. So we popped in a few shops just to see what they offered. One shop reminded me of a Dollar Store or Big Lots back in the U.S. with simple shelves lined with low-quality, inexpensive items.
We still had some time, so we decided to press on to see if we could find another massage place. A sole lady in a massage shop nearby said that she could only accommodate one, and sent us down the street with some vague directions in very fragmented English to a larger place.
We must have made a wrong turn somewhere, because we did not find the place to which she was referring, but eventually we came upon another massage place. They only had three people, so they had to juggle us a bit to get all 4 done, but I thought 200 Baht (approx. $6.50 USD) for an hour traditional Thai massage was not bad considering.
Once our massages were done, we had just enough time to walk back to the train station, order some food from the vendor stalls outside, collect our bags and board the train.
We almost got on the wrong car in the chaos of the station, but thankfully found our way. We had tickets for the sleeper car on the overnight train.
During the day, the sleeper car has one isle down the center with pairs of seats facing each other, and luggage racks with ladders to where the top bunk folds down in between each set of seats.
We placed our luggage in the bins and sat down to eat our food. Stephen and I had bought these lovely boxed meals with rice from a street vendor for less than $3. I had a chicken chili basil dish, and it really hit the spot, though a little on the hot side. I wasn't even finished eating when the conductor came through to set out the beds, so I ended up mostly eating while standing up. Bad timing, I guess.
The pair of bottom seats were unfolded to lay flat and form the bottom bunk, and a shelf that folded down from the ceiling formed the top. All five of us all had top bunks (our Stray guide said this is because they are usually cheaper and safer because you and your belongings are out of reach of pick-pockets while you are sleeping), and even though it was only 7pm, we had no choice but to lay in our bunks from that point.
The bunks were fairly comfortable considering, and were nicely made with fresh sheets, a pillow and blanket. Stephen, though, being his 6 foot 3 inches in height found it a bit tight. I suppose next time he's be a lot better off in a lower bunk. The hallway lights are kept on all night long (for security I presume), and without a window in the top bunk, the only thing to give you some semblance of night is a curtain that you can pull in front of your bunk.
I read for a bit, and eventually decided to take a turn at sleeping. Occasionally I would wake up and think it was time to get up due to the light peeking in. In the end, I slept much better than I usually do on an overnight flight, but still was exhausted when the conductor came around in the morning to pack our beds away.
When we got to the station, we were all so exhausted and heavy laden with our packs that I really didn't feel like we got to give the goodbye we wanted to our other travel mates, and soon we were all off to our own corners of the city.
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