Going Back Home
Today we were going to find out if the travel arrangements given yesterday actually existed or not.
Normally there shouldn't be any problem, but just once and a while...
Tim had a brilliant idea; why don't leave our hotel a bit earlier and have a nice breakfast at the market behind the bus station before our departure?
Why not indeed?!
We already had visions of hot coffee, patongko, jolk, etc., served by nice ladies!
Therefore we got on our bikes around 04.45 am and cycled the short distance to the market, only to discover that absolutely nothing was happening there, it was dead as a doornail...
Ray and I were considering for a moment to kick Tim's ass, but instead just waited patiently for the bus arrive, which it did nicely half an hour later.
The back bench was missing, which made loading our bicycles pretty easy.
At 05.30 am we departed and 4 hours later arrived in Nong Khai.
It was a fun ride with a few stops and passengers getting on and off.
And that part was interesting as the passengers only paid upon getting off the bus, the driver never made notes or anything, just trusted them to tell him where they got on board!
Nong Khai Bus Terminal's front looks quite futuristic!
We unloaded our bikes, cycled back to Mudmee Guesthouse, dropped them off, and took a skylab taxi back to the terminal.
Tim and Ray bought tickets for a bus to Khon Kaen and departed while I was still in the process of getting my ticket for Bangkok...
My bus would depart at 20.20, plenty of time left to explore the town, and this time I focussed on some of the artifacts from the 1960's!
And of course anything else that attracted my eye I captured as well.
Quite a few of the old 2-story buildings remain in use here.
I still like sign posts with unusual English language mishaps...
I had a nice coffee break at Baan Tuad Coffee, also good opportunity to charge my batteries!
This was about the average high-rise in Nong Khai.
Complete with a shiny skylab!
I doubted if this was the correct use of a fire hydrant!
I had my final Mekong beer during sunset...
Still early, but probably in an hour's time all these tables would be occupied.
Back at the bus terminal.
My vehicle for the night journey, as expected I ended up not sleeping much...
Next early morning arrival in Bangkok, I was pleasantly surprised that the bus stopped at Krungthep Apiwat Station!
This enabled me to take the Red Line to Taling Chan Junction and from there it was just a short motorcycle taxi ride home.
Another fun trip with a stretch of Mekong cycling done!
Previous posts:
All about last year's trip here:
This is brilliant, KK...might be the best post in the set. Yes...it was an excellent mini-tour.