We crossed the border today from Huay Say in Laos, to Chiang Khong in Thailand. Pretty painless. Cost 1 US dollar each to cross. Getting a Visa for Thailand cost nothing, and there were no bag checks. I am sure you could have smuggled in whatever you wanted to - which seems strang to me. After that we walked up the gangway and headed to the nearest bus station. By the way - we heard some tourist got caught with some marijuana down in South Thailand and they put them away for 6 years! Not sure if this is true or not, but sure is scary for such a common thing.
One of the first things to strike me is how genuinely nice and helpful the locals were and they werent trying to rip you off. You get a little cynical after travelling through Vietnam, and also in small pockets of Laos (but nowhere near as bad as Vietnam).
After a 2 hour bus journey we ended up in chiang Rai. A fairly quite little town in Northern Thailand. (Wynne) I spent time playing a Chris' guitar that he bought from Thailand for 60 $ US. I must admit I am pretty rusty, but I can feel the addiction for playing starting again. We stayed at an idillic little jungle bungalow type place for $4.50 US per night.
