With a three day weekend in our future, a few of us decided we should explore the nearby Laos instead of staying in Surin! 

We did our homework, scouring the Internet for tips and tricks and places to stay, and were very disheartened to find almost nothing available. So we took a leap of faith and decided to show up at the train station in Surin with only our accommodations for the weekend booked. 

In Surin, there are two classes for the train. The first is the VIP experience for 282 BHT. The second is the second class for 31 BHT. We didn’t know the difference so we split up and decided four would take the VIP and four would take the second class. I took the second class and let. Me. Tell. You. I’ve never spent a better $1.10! As far as I can tell, it was the exact same except for VIP had air conditioning instead of fans. 

It was about a three hour train ride, after which we arrived in Ubon, Thailand for the night (I suspect you could travel all the way to Laos in one day but we caught the late afternoon train so we couldn’t). We took a taxi to our hostel, 28 Rachabutr where the host, Vanita met us with hugs and kisses. She is a truly amazing woman who decided to start a hostel once her children moved out of her house because she had so much room. She was the MOST darling lady, and her hostel was simple, yet clean and taken care of with a flushing toilet! The cost for all nine of us to stay in seperate rooms was only $40 total! 

In the morning, we woke up and went to the bus station where we caught the 9:30 bus to Pakse, Laos. If you have some spare time to spend at the bus station, PLEASE do yourself a favour and go to the Cafe Incanto across the road. Amazing drinks, yummy food and super friendly hosts. Pai, one of the owners, added us all on Facebook and told us of a river restaurant to visit while in the city. After a coffee we hopped on the bus and headed to Laos. 

*IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CANADIANS TRAVELLING TO LAOS* I’m not sure if this was just our specific experience or all Canadians in general, but they did not like us. Our visas cost the most to enter ($75 CAD!) out of everyone that we were with, and they treated us with a lot of hostility. However, we passed through successfully and ended up in Pakse! 

There are many cheap places to stay in Pakse, we stayed in a really nice hotel for less than $15 per person for two nights. We decided in the afternoon to hike across the Mekong River and up to the Golden Buddha statue and the temple behind. I won’t lie, it was VERY steep, but VERY worth it. The view from the top was truly amazing! The next day, we went on a bus tour with Pakse Travel Company to a number of waterfalls, coffee plantations and small villages. We were picked up around 8 a.m and dropped off at 5:30 p.m- the cost was only $25 CAD and our guide was AMAZING. He even offered to drive us to the bus stop in the morning to catch a train ride back to Ubon. 

Southern Laos is an amazing country, and what they may lack in economic structure, they make up for in amazing scenery and hospitality. I found it slightly more expensive that Thailand, however that may just have been the restaurants we wandered into.  I would definitely be sure to bring a lot of Baht or other kind of currency you can exchange into Kip for your time there, as it will save you a lot of time. 

We are headed back to Surin for the time being, but I cannot wait to come back to Laos and explore more of this beautiful country!