So, after spending a couple of weeks in the self-quarantine mode at Sengphachanh Hotel 2 in Vientiane, I had to change my travel plan from my original itinerary.

Initially, I was supposed to head to Vang Vieng before leaving for Luang Prabang, so I could get a chance to explore the northern part of Thailand before going back to Bangkok. However, due to my situation as I got recovered from my illness, the people from the embassy suggested going back home sooner rather than later.

At the time, I realized that maybe it’s a bad idea to follow my initial plan anyway, so I agreed to head directly to Bangkok from Vientiane. If anything happened, it’s easier to find a reliable (and cheaper!) hospital in Bangkok than anywhere in Laos. Even if I had to return from Bangkok, it’s easy to find a direct flight from Thailand’s capital city to Jakarta than Vientiane.

So I had to follow my gut, and that was to head back to Bangkok instead of continuing my journey to the northern part of Laos and Thailand. The good thing is that I still had some credits from Bookaway, so I didn’t think twice when I found an option to travel from Vientiane to Bangkok using the first-class train from Nong Khai.