What a journey!!! I was booked to go on the 10am bus direct to Vientiane but there was no space left when I arrived, every bus was full to the brim. The travel agent I booked it with said I'd have to wait for the 5pm bus which he assures me there will be room on?!. The only thing about this service is that the bus goes half way back to Hanoi, where I just came from, so as to cross the border!!! The new border crossing is at a place called Vinn plus there is a change of bus on route. I set off at 5pm, more like 6pm, and we make our way to Vinn where I change to catch another bus to Vientiane. I arrive in Vinn at about 1.30am and the bus for Vientiane arrives about 2am. When it arrives I'm starting to think this is going to be another journey similar to the one to Sapa...it looks loaded. All the seats are taken, in some cases there are 3 in a two person seat. Along the length of the isle they have put 3-4 wooden plank seats for the rest of us to sit, its crazy, we are all straggling one another on these planks of wood just to try and fit in...and this is the way its going to be for the next 15hrs!!! We stop at some unknown spot close to the border at 4 in the morning. We wait here until the border opens at 8am. At the border it's the same old same old. Any tourists traveling across get charge double the going rate. Some of the people on the bus try to kick up some fuss but officials at the border just get a little more hostile and in the end its easier just to pay up and get done with it. We set off again and some 9 hrs later I finally reach Vientiane...I don't think my ass has ever hurt so much, 15hrs on a wooden plank, a dare ya to try it! A shower, food & sleep is about all I can do when I arrive.
The following morning I hire a bike and see some of the sights around the City. It's so laid back compared to any other city I've visited in Asia. No horns from cars for one! People seem to be in no rush what so ever, its a real chill out place which is surprising considering its the capital of Laos...some may say not, it is Laos after all! One thing that's good about the place is its food and of course Laos beer...good stuff! The food certainly seems to be a lot more like the Thai dishes...spicy.
Tuesday 10th February 2009
Vang Vieng is one weird place. You can either spend your time there tubing, caving or sitting in a restaurant watching continuous episodes of Friends & The Simpons...hard to believe people come all this way just to tune in to this but they do and you wouldn't believe how much business these places get. As for the Tubing and the Caving well they are very different activities. The Tubing is just one big session cruising down the Nam Xong river. It can get messy I'll say that, the number of people coming off the river with injuries is keeping the local A&E in business. 
As for the caving well thats a little more civilised but fun none the less. There are no end of caves, some are well worth a look and as for the others, well they are just an excuse for some young kid to charge to go into a 10ft black hole! The way it seems to work is who ever owns the land that leads to the cave charges the entrance fee. I'd swear that some young kids just dug some holes and classified them as caves just to get a few pound...they are on the ball. One thing is for sure when you enter these caves make sure you bring a torch & the battery's don't run out, when you get well into some of them there isn't a hint of light.
Friday 13th February 2009
Next stop in Laos is Luang Phrabang. It's a historic old city and a really nice place to spend a day or two but that is certainly enough. The worse thing about traveling to so many different countries that border one another is that you tend to encounter the same activities over and over again. So if you haven't already done the Elephant riding, bamboo rafting, mountain biking, caving, Temples, Pagodas...etc etc then sure enough you could kill a few more days. So as much as it was nice to see this historic place it did seem to be the same old same old. After a couple of days I decide I best book a flight out of Laos back to Bangkok so I can continue my trip to Malaysia & Singapore and for the couple of days before it I decide to head a little further up north of Laos. My bus ticket is booked for the following morning at 9am. Now, when you spend some time in Laos you will come to notice that pretty nothing runs on time. So the next morning when I'm expecting to be picked up at 8.30am and there is no sign of it happening I decide not to worry. When it is 9.10am and there is still no sign I think its about time to make a call. When I call the travel agency they say they have totally forgotten but send someone down to pick me up in the hope of catching this 9am bus. By the time we get to the station the bus is long gone and the guys response is, "I think you get the bus tomorrow OK!", no shit sherlock. Anyway at this point I'm thinking this only leaves me with a day up North so I decide to knock this trip on the head and bring my flight forward to the following morning. Again I am due to be picked up this time at 6am and its a similar story. When there is no sign of the pickup at 6.15am I decide to get a taxi myself...don't fancy missing another trip!
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