Backpacking trip SG/Malaysia/Thailand/Laos done last week

This post is at least 4 days overdue by now and I'd rather get it off my back. On Saturday, 10th Oct, I completed a one week long backpacking trip. I started off from Singapore and backpacked all the way to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos by land.

It was a trip I wanted to do for a long time. My wife can't do backpacking to save her life. Its not that she doesn't like traveling, just that she can't stand the chaos of a pure backpacking trip. So she skipped. I was hoping that D would join me, but he was too engaged and hence I decided to do it alone.

And it was fun. To say the least. The trip involved traveling from Singapore to Penang (Malaysia) by bus, transferring to Butterworth by ferry, then traveling to Prachuap Khiri Khan (Thailand) by train and from there to Bangkok by bus (actually, it was planned to go direct to Bangkok by train, but the unfortunate train accident at Prachuap, to which I was too close for comfort, forced me to shift into a bus. May the deceased souls of that accident rest in peace.)

After halting in Bangkok and soaking in the culture of all the backpackers to touch upon the thai capital, and after having enjoyed the Chao Phraya river, I moved on by train to Nong Khai (Thailand) and transferring to Vientiane (Laos) by a series of buses and tuk-tuks, while crossing the Thai-Laos border at the friendship bridge.

After checking out the Laos capital city for two days, I took a flight back to KL and then a quick bus ride back into Singapore. The whole trip was exactly 7 days long, involving 3 borders, 10 stamps on the passport, 4 countries, 5 currencies (the US dollars comes into play in such trips) and loads of experience to share and memories to cherish.

Writing one blog alone would not do justice to the trip, but instead of writing more travelogues, I did rather write essays of the distinct trains of thoughts that I had while on the trip. Hold on for that and the photos.