Slept in this morning and had some more banana pancake breakfast until the kids decided to run ariund the courtyard for a bit. We spent the rest of the morning doing school and packing.

The tuk tuk ride to the airport was bittersweet. I think we’ve all really liked it here. Check in for our flight was fast, and with nothing ( not even a shop) at the airport it was a boring hour + wait. Avi was entertained watching the Bangkok-bound flight get prepped and our plane land. Zoe did a dance show. She was a Pegasus.

On the plane Zoe was a bit sad and was goodbyeing her baby elephant friend, Thea dog, market kitten, and swimming pals. She wished we could’ve given the dog a bone. Avi wanted food. The local freeze dried fruit snacks were delicious again. They include jackfruit, pineapple, pumpkin, sweet potato, taro, and winter melon. Yummy!! The flight was only a half hour and Avi managed to fall asleep while we were landing.

At the airport he woke and we gathered our things, got a taxi, and sweat the whole way to the bus station. The next bus left at 1500 so we had a half hour to spend my last 13000 kip. The kids chose some baguettes, apples, and a pack of cookies from the street vendors. The Lao bus returning to Thailand was dramatically different than the bus up. This one was a crappy old city bus that had been modified by luxing it up with curtains and raw vinyl seats that would’ve reclined when they were made in 1970. Since the air con was sorta working only by butt and legs for completely soaked with sweat on the way to the border… Where the line was super long to get out of Lao. It was efficient, though, and we stamped out before the bus even made it past the checkpoint. Back across the Mekong on friendship bridge and we breezed through the Thai border as well. I’ve gotten quite adept at quickly filling out three arrival cards with only the necessary info to get in.

Avi did not want to get back on the bus, and fussed about it til we got moving. I was sleepy and wanted to nap, but both kids were wide awake. Luckily they are fairly good at playing I Spy and Makeup together. The trip ended up taking 2 1/2 hours from Vientiane to Udon. We got off, grabbed our bag and the stroller from below the bus and walked to Bryan’s hotel. He came in 10 minutes later and the kids were so exited to see him.

We spent the evening getting dinner at the mall, playing in the playland, and joining the guys for a bit of the End of Exercise party.