Lao Visa

Today we went to get a visa to visit Lao. It is possible to get a visa at at the border when you enter, which we did sixteen years ago, but Jim decided it would be better to go to their Bangkok embassy and get the visa before we got to the border. Jim found the embassy’s address and it turns out it is on a small Soi off the main street that we have stayed near before. Since Sois are usually short streets, Jim figured it couldn’t be too far to the embassy if we took the subway and then the bus to just past the JL Bangkok hotel where we have stayed a few times, the most recent being in December. After we got off the bus Jim had a problem finding the right Soi. The Sois run off the main street with the even numbered sois on one side and the odd numbered Also, there may be a street between two consecutive numbered odd or even Sois. Or, Sois running off the opposite side. Unfortunately, some Sois have names rather than Soi numbers. the Sois may be named rather than numbered. This happened with the Soi we were looking for. The street sign had a name for the Soi instead of a number, even though the Soi also had a number. So, we walked back and forth looking for a Soi number that was signposted. Naturally, Jim refused to ask for directions, so Laura asked and we found the Soi. We then had the address and started walking down the Soi. The problem was this Soi must have been the longest Soi in Bangkok. We kept walking, and walking and walking. Finally, Jim was about to give up and either quit or find a taxi, and Laura asked directions again. Turns out we had not walked far enough, so we trekked on. Finally we came to what looked like a huge open field. We debated whether to walk on so Laura went into the nearby Mercedes Benz dealership and asked directions. After getting directions we trekked on, finally coming to the Cambodian Embassy, which was near the Lao Embassy. We turned at the Cambodian embassy and walked another couple of hundred yards, and there, on something running off the Soi, we found the Lao Embassy.

We went in, filled out the application form and handed them in. They told us to come back in about an hour to pick up our passports, so we went to eat. We ate, then came back and picked up our passports. We then walked down to the Soi and flagged down a passenger carrying truck and took it back to the main street, where we could catch the bus to the subway. The fare for the truck was 6 Baht, which is about twenty cents. So, by walking for well over an hour in about 100 degree temperature, we saved twenty cents.

Here's a photo of Jim paying the truck driver the 12 Baht (40 cents) fare.