We began our journey on Wednesday. We had decided ahead of time to try a different route into Lao, at the suggestion of Jason. It seems that the Thai government would like for us to see more of Asia when we go on visa runs, and we are only too happy to comply! So, we got on the noon bus out of town and headed to Bangkok. This part of the trip was terribly routine and uneventful. We got to the bus station in Bangkok in the evening, and found that there were no more  to where we were going! We were standing there looking very bewildered, when some nice young men carrying radios intervened, and told us to just wait and they would solve our problem for us. Pretty soon they came back beaming, telling us that we could get a bus now. Turns out, they had pulled out another bus so that we would be able to go. We couldn’t have been any happier. So, we settled down for a nice 11 1/2 hour, overnight bus ride to the border.

That is when my personal misery began! I don’t know who it was that thought that buses should be kept at near freezing temperatures, but I would like to have that person committed to an insane asylum. They do give you one small, thin blanket…but it is not enough to keep a flee warm when you have an arctic wind blasting you from directly over your seat. Travis and I did all within our power to plug that nasty vent, to keep it from blowing that icy wind on us, but we found that it was not made to be closed.  I kept hoping that the driver would get tired of the freezing temperatures, but he was bundled up in his favorite winter coat, and did not seem to notice all his blue passengers. We cannot speak Thai, so it does no good to ask for any favors…they just look at you blankly, then turn up the air conditioning, assuming that you are too hot! Since I had accidentally left my one and only precious jacket in Cambodia last time I was there, I spent a miserable night trying to keep the circulation going to my frosty feet. I even suggested to Travis that he might be too hot, and would like a couple of ice cubes strategically placed on his back, but he declined my generous offer, insisting that he was not all that warm either. That was the LONGEST bus ride that I can remember taking.

We emerged from the ice box the next morning with dazed, frozen expressions on our faces. The tuc tuc drivers were probably so astonished that we survived they they offered us a ride to the border without the usual extravagant prices. We were happy to oblige them, in order to get away from the presence of those monster freezer buses, but I doubt that our frozen faces were able to convey the joy that we really felt at their humaneness. When we got to the border, it was also a surprise to us. There was a nice building, perched on a bank of the river. We walked inside and did not see even one other white person! This is amazing, since going to Lao the other way, there are hoards of scary looking white people. The people there were very friendly, and helped us check out of Thailand. Then, we headed down a very long flight of steep steps to the river below. There, we saw several rustic looking boats. We hopped on one of them, and sat back to enjoy our first Asian boat ride. It is a wide river, and so we had plenty of time to thaw out before getting to Lao.

Once safely in Lao, we went to a bus station for the next lap of our journey. This was to be an 8 hour bus ride north to the capital of Lao. We had not seen much of Lao before, and it is really pretty! There are tall mountains, and beautiful rivers.  The houses generally are poorer than what we see in Thailand, but made of better materials than what we see on the border. The bus itself was a bit different than what we normally take. It was very crowded, and the people were friendly. The conductor had to walk on the arm rests in order to collect fares from the people. He even crawled in the back window one time in order to chat with some people at the back of the bus. And, the icing on the cake was that the bus was NOT COLD!

About 5 hours into the bus ride, several people yelled something to the driver. People get on and off the bus all the time, so we didn’t even stop to wonder about it. But, the bus pulled off to the side of the road. We could not see any side roads, or houses, so we wondered why we were stopping there. We got even more curious as one by one, almost everyone got off the bus. So, we were intently looking out the windows to see what the big attraction was, when much to our consternation and amazement, we found that this was a “rest area”…although there were no bathrooms. People just squatted in happy groups here and there beside the road. When they got back on the bus, they laughed and joked about the strange white people who don’t even know how to go to the bathroom! I decided then and there to maintain my state of dehydration. Yes, my water bottle that had appeared so tempting a few minutes before, suddenly lost its attraction to me. Not until we arrived safely in our motel room did I break my water fast.

Today was the big day. We headed to the embassy to get our Thai visas with fear and trepidation. After all the trouble that Roy had, we were not all that excited about going.  But, we both were able to get 4 more months with no problem at all. We definitely feel very blessed. We want to thank each one of you that has been praying for us about this situation.

So for now, we will enjoy our “nice” motel room, then on Monday we will be off again. Travis will be going to Chiang Mai to get Ben’s computers, and I will go to Bangkok to do a bit of shopping and visiting before heading home. We are so thankful for how God has led, and we have no need to fear for the future as long as we let God be in control of our lives.