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A Laotian bicyclist pauses to take in the sunset over the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos.
Thailand is home to a relatively relaxed visa policy. Applying in your home country (or a country neighboring Thailand) generally gets you a 2 month stay. My plan to ride out the winter in Bangkok is scheduled for 7 months which forces me to do a visa-run to Vientiane every 2 months. The photo above was taken during a recent visa-run during which I managed to wrangle myself a double-entry 2 month visa. This rare visa (only given at the Vientiane consulate - among the nearby consulates) allows an initial 2 month stay then 2 more months after exiting and re-entering Thailand, simplifying my situation immensely. My future visa-run will no longer require a consulate visit or an overnight stay in a neighboring country. I simply have to walk over the border to Cambodia, then do a u-turn back into Thailand.
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A pair of foreign tourists chat overlooking the Mekong river at sunset in Vientiane, Laos.
Bicycling seemed to be the tourist activity of choice in Vientiane. The weather was a bit on the high and sticky side for my taste so I abstained from any physical activity that would soil my one and only shirt I brought on my 2-day visa run. Mission: accomplished.
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