Edith Cowan University arrive into Laos

COUNTRY: Laos
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Edith Cowan

Sabidee ya’ll,

Leaving Perth airport was filled with mixed emotions. Barbara got frisked, then she lost the documents containing all the contact details, frequent flyer numbers and passport numbers (sorry, about all your hard work Fiona). After much commotion, finally we got onto the plane. Thought we were in for a treat upon boarding, until we realised we were only passing through the ‘first class section’. Moving on back to economy, we took our seats. The window seat is great, for the first couple of hours.

Until you have to turn to the attractive stranger in seat 49C and reveal to him you need to pee. One night in Bangkok. The airport was huge, we got lost. Twice. Left the airport in peak hour. Hello massive culture shock. They say people in Perth can’t merge.... we got nothing on Thailand. Hotel was beautiful, equipped with fully functioning toilets, much to our delight. Our bags were escorted from the bus to our rooms, we felt like royalty. Then the awkward moment, crap... how much do we tip? Furthermore, do you take US dollars?

Headed out for a night on the town. Ate at My Darling. I had two drinks and a main meal. I think it cost me 150 Bhat. That’s about $4 Australian Dollars. I am probably going to return home with a couple of extra kilos. Shopping on Kao San Road. People eat bugs there. We played a game, it was called spot the lady boy. Leslie won. Saw some cool bars, one was called ‘very strong cocktails, we do not check ID” .. you can imagine our astonishment, compared to tame Perth. We ordered a bucket.

Few of us had access to alarms. So one person was in charge of providing us all with a wake-up call. Except this person did not realise her phone was still set to Perth time. We were up an hour early at 5:15am. Look, I’m not going to mention any names, but I’m pretty sure it was Simone. She wasn’t that popular for the first half of the day. Made it to Bangkok airport. Check- in was somewhat complicated without our vital documents. But, our Australian charm prevailed and got us through the terminal.

Boarded the aircraft to Laos. Sorry no, the helicopter sized tin can with a couple of propellers attached. Thankfully after a 2 hour flight, a delicious meal and a substantial amount of turbulence we arrive in beautiful Laos. Keep you posted on the weekends adventures!