Warning, this blog entry may bore you!

Only bother to read this if you have any interest in overland travel especially referring to the crossing of borders.

Borders are a pain but they exist and that must be accepted and dealt with. The rules and regulations are set and then some of those rules may be abused a bit by the power hungry, or probably more likely, bored officials. Get over it. 
We paid the extra dollar fee (weekend rate) coming into Laos without a problem however I've read countless blogs where people moan & bitch about a bit of corruption or 'back handers' like this going on. Get real! Ok, don't pay, cycle back 500km to another country if you don't like it. Yes it's frustrating that Laos charge$35/ person and Thai visas are free but what are you going to do about it? The choice to visit is yours after all.
Any idea how much a visa costs to get into the uk for a Cambodian? Oh yeah, I forgot, they probably can't get one cos we don't trust them to leave our precious, sacred island paved with gold and such other super things.
Australia wouldn't let me in without renewing my Oz passport. It cost $200!! Theoretically I could have got a tourist visa in my UK passport but, no, as an Aussie citizen I had to enter on my Oz passport. So, did I pay? Of course I did, it was that or not go there. That is the rule.
The scandalous rip offs continue once into the country as well. Did the bloke over charge us yesterday for the little boat ride onto our palm tree island? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. 40,000kip when it should have been 30,000? What a rip off eh, that's 75p of my hard earned cash he's had. Bloody good luck to him I say. He's there everyday and probably will be for years. Spare a thought for him in a few months time when you're back home paying proper 'back home' prices for everything.
Travelling costs money but I feel so much richer for the experiences. Far richer than any stupid dollar 'rip off' is ever going to make me feel. 
So to all you whingers out there, get over it or stay sat on your sofa and make sure a few coins don't fall out of your pockets and go down behind the cushions because that is the kind of cash you're getting upset about.
Rant over.