Sleeper Train

I've never been on a sleeper train before, I'm so excited, I feel like Hercule Poirot in 'Murder on the Orient express' or Tin Tin on a crazy adventure, actually, those are both Belgian, trains just remind my of Belgium for some reason, perhaps because that's where I took my first Real Continental Train. We have beds in bunks with curtains, its 2nd class, but its fine, the beds are comfortable and I love the idea of having this tiny little cordoned off place to sleep.
We got donuts for sustenance and books to pass the time.
The train is clean enough and quiet, its relatively easy to sleep. I thought there would be stars, I was looking forward to that, but its cloudy, just my luck, still, its peaceful, just chugging along through the country side.
Morning arrives and we sit and talk, our minds rushing now with expectation, so close to Laos. The train stops and we get a tuk tuk, the driver brings us to some scam artists who want to charge us double for the Laos visa and bus to Vientianne, this is Thailand, scams are common here. All the tourists arrive at the same time to this strange outpost, we all refuse to accept the scam and ask the Tuk tuk drivers to continue on towards the border. An Aussie guy chuckles 'Its a bloody scam!' (after talking to him, we find out that he and his wife are from Newcastle), amused at the situation.
We get to the Thai-Laos border and queue up with our departure cards. A bus takes us up the road to the Laos immigration area. Here we fill in forms, pay the money and wait for our visas. They are really efficient here, best border crossing ever! After about fifteen minutes we get our visas and continue on our way. The taxis in Laos are open back trucks jammed with passengers, the roads are dusty and it all feels rather sureal, like a movie. Its safe though, at no time am I worried, this is a lovely country to be in.
We arrive at Vientianne, it resembles a small town, not a city, but it is friendly and promises us some chilled out fun.