On the Border: Nong Khai, Laos, and a Bizarre Sculpture Park

So here I am, on the border with Laos (and that's a silent French "s," for the record, so it should rhyme with "wow"), the Mekong River lazily, neutrally sliding past. I've been following this river, off and on, for over a year now: I walked along it in Cambodia, I sailed on it in Vietnam, I'm looking at it now in Thailand, I'll see it tomorrow in Laos, and I'll soon be following it to its source in Yunan, China.

But anway, I don't know what any of that means, so, moving on: I intended to blow through this Thai town, Nong Khai, and just go right to Laos. But I lingered, because it's a cool little town with a slow pace of life, some nice cool weather, and a really strange sculpture park. Behold! (Stick around/skip forward to the big sculptures, they're really cool!)



So tomorrow I'll cross the bridge into Laos. Should be fun! I'll be crossing over the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge, a bridge that goes from Thailand to Laos (or from Laos to Thailand), built by Australians for (American dollars here, folks) $15 million. So it's a bridge international even in its contrsuction!

More, later, from Laos!