We left Guild's home this morning, driving about 20 miles to the Friendship Bridge. Crossing it, we entered Thailand at Nong Khai.
The Friendship Bridge was the first to span the Mekong River between Laos and Thailand. Alas, it is too narrow to allow cars to be on it at the same time a train is using it, creating the need to stop traffic and by extension creating a traffic jam and a backup at immigration. Fortunately there was no train when we were ready to cross it.
There was the magical moment at the border crossing when we switched from (Laos) driving on the right side of the road to (Thai) driving on the left side of the road. This occurred at an "X" intersection controlled by traffic lights. Guild made the right to left transition effortlessly, not twitching the steering wheel the wrong way even once as we zipped down the road to Udon Thani where we boarded a Thai Airline flight for Bangkok.
In Bangkok we split up, reuniting for dinner on the terrace of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We enjoyed our last meal together on a warm evening with a gentle breeze and passing boat traffic on the Chao Phraya River. The three of us explored the original section of the hotel - a wonderful trip back in time - before reluctantly bidding Guild good-bye and heading for bed in preparation for an early trip to the airport in the morning. (Does 4:00 AM even deserve to be called "morning"?)
Guild was a fabulous host who put together for us a truly unique, memorable experience in Thailand and Laos. It was clear he loves this part of southeast Asia and he helped us to understand why. This blog does not do justice to the places he took us and things he showed us. We are indebted to him.
Prior to beginning our trip to Asia and even well into it we had a modest concern about the nearly six-week duration of the trip. Would we burn out? The answer proved to be an emphatic "no". Like those that preceded it, today was an interesting, enjoyable day over which the allure of being home cast no shadow.
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