Thailand to Loas

My Macpac is scuffed and dirty, my feet are blistered and burnt, I have no idea what day it is and I am no longer a virgin to the squatting toilet; this is testament to me been right on my way as a backpacker. My time in Pai pretty much ended with me reading, eating and listening to the local live music with a good chunk of it in a hammock, I then had my sights set clear on the Ancient town of Sukhothai, one of the first civilisations in Thailand and one of Thailand's most powerful but to get there I had to take the arduous journey by the infamous Thai bus to the armpit they call Phitsanulok. In Lonely Planet they call it a "Charming and Vibrant city", I first stayed in a Hostel that was more like a complex, it was enormous but completely barren, no one was there and I physically had to yell to get the managers attention, he showed me to his overpriced room and when he left to watch the awful Thai television; I made my self scarce out the entrance to the nearest Tuk Tuk, the next morning I caught one of the government buses to Sukhothai which is about an hour out of Phitsanulok, Sukhothai its self for a population of only 39,800 is very busy and has a nice feel to it so after finding a guest house I made my way to the 'Old City' (as apposed to the 'New City' which is where everyone lives). The best way to see the ruins is on bicycle which was really nice, they really put a lot of effort into making Old Sukhothai presentable as possible with man made lakes and rivers with cobble stone paths through out. These were the first ruins I had seen so far and they were something else, beautiful Buddha statues with grand stone steps and rooted pillars that were too good to touch. Sukhothai was fantastic and was a major anticlimax when I had to make my way slowly to Laos through the typical Thai cities. I had to first go through the University city of Koen Khan after holding my breath going back through Phitsanulok and it was all on the Government bus which is really cheap, about 140Baht ($6NZD) for a 6 hour ride but at the absolute expense of comfort. It was a major test of endurance and patience, packed to the rim and achingly braking down four times making a standard six hour ride into an epic nine hour back breaker. Koen Khan is the home to Thai lands largest University and is the student town for sure strife with cocky teenagers and cheap food. It seemed far more efficient then a lot of Thailands other cities with people always seeming busy and purposeful which came as a great relief to my next destination and last before Laos as the driver made a 4 hour trip into 2 and a half. I was pretty worried on that entire ride because I had no Idea if I was on the right bus, English seemed non existent in Koen Khan so I was literally shoved into a seat and pushed onto another one in transit but it worked because I ended up in Nong Khai, the border between Thailand and Laos, I spent two days there and today made my way across the 'Friendship Bridge' and $31USD later I'm in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.