After not quite a week in Thailand I crossed the border into Laos, the most picturesque border crossing I've made. At dawn you get your passport stamped at the Thai border post in Chiang Khong town. Then you walk down the sandbank to the water's edge and put your bag on one of the wooden launches waiting to take tourists and others across the Mekong. It's a few minutes ride to arrive at the Lao side and join the line of backpackers applying for Lao visas at the border post there, which has its own Duty Free Liquor Shopping (in a primitive stall built on a deck overlooking the river). | Next | Southeast Asia Map | Asia 2005 Gallery Home | Home