I went on my two month long trip of Indochina. I skulked a bit in Qatar
eyeing up the tablecloth-clad gentlemen and in turn being the recipient
of their roving eye. Thought maybe not. From Bangkok Railway Station there
was a direct train. This leaves every night at 8:00pm or 8:20pm. You can
book a sleeper berth complete with curtains to the Friendship Bridge at
the Laotian border. Crossing the border is easy – the usual stuff
– $20 and a British Passport and you are there. Vientiane is the
next stop. One needs to speak a little French to admire Alleys, les baguettes,
Les Arch de Triomphe. I walked everywhere – the whole place is less
than three square miles.
If you happen to skip the French breakfast, the French colonial attitude
and the temperature, go to Luang Prabang. It’s a beautiful place
– until they get funding to finish the long runway.
If you happen to be female, make sure you are wearing the right underwear:
the Buddhist monks on the top of the hill happen to be very observant
Then there was a little problem. Up the Mekong down the Mekong. Make
sure you are fit rather than panting your lungs away along the waterfalls
like I did.
After having had such a lovely time, it all went a bit sour: three days
after flying back from Cambodia, I spent 40 minutes on the internet in
Ko Chang (Eastern Thailand) Internet café. A local man asked me
if I wanted to buy drugs. I politely refused. What happened next? The
guy kicked me in the face and broke my nose, leaving me in a lot of pain,
and bleeding all over the place. A Kiwi traveller called the police who
arrived pretty quickly. After 4 hours of investigations and searching
my possessions, they decided to find the offender. The court case took
on the spot. By 2 a.m. the police and the translator were around and so
was my attacker; very professional, except me bleeding all over trying
to fix my broken nose. I identified my attacker and then I was taken to
hospital where the costs of fixing up my poor nose were paid for. I flew
back home to avoid the rest of the nonsense.
If you'd like to contact Busby, please e-mail her on: me@krystyna.com
