The Journey(s) of Ian

It has been a while since I posted a personal blog entry, so here goes. For the past month I have been enjoying time in Pattaya, that jewel of a city, nestled on the shores of the Gulf of Siam, however, time to move on. Things to see, places to visit, visas to get. My second Thai tourist visa was due to expire in late August, thus, I needed to acquire a new. Several options available, but I decided to go with visiting Laos, via Savahhakhet. Sannakhet, is a quiet, poor, visually run down city on the Mekong River, directly opposite the Thai city of Mukdahan. I had visited Sav in 2008 and was interested to see just what changes had taken place. To get there I first arrived in Muk, via the Yellow Bus (which runs from Rayong—south of Pattaya to the city of Mukdahan), a 12 hour trip, best done overnight. I spent a day in Muk, waymarking and generally hanging out and looking around. My hotel this time was the Submukda Grand Hotel, not sure about the 'grand' part, but a solid 500b ho...