A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Luang Prabang to Oudomxai to Luang Nam Tha, Laos

You can forget any negative comments I ever made about Lao buses -- I retract them all. Having to sit on the little stool in the middle of the aisle? Forgiven. Asian technopop videos playing at tinnitus-inducing volume for eight straight hours? Forgotten. Stopping for every chicken-toting person on the roadside regardless of how full the bus is? Solid business practice. Never, but never leaving less than a half hour late? A mere bagatelle. I'm ready to testify -- public buses are the Rolls Royces of the Lao transportation system.

Why this change of heart, you might well ask. After all, I incessantly bitch and moan about bus rides -- what could possibly have occurred to upend my universe in such a way?

This picture (aaurgh, can't find a link and this internet place is charging me a fortune. will insert later) should help explain the situation. That little contraption is called a sawngthaew (no, I have no idea how to pronounce it), and it was the surprise waiting for me at the bus station when I went to catch my "bus" to Oudomxai. I've ridden in these before, but I knew immediately that this was going to be a whole different kettle of fish sauce. In the past I've used sawngthaews in one of two ways -- for very short distances, as between a bus station and a guesthouse, or basically privately chartered for the exclusive use of me and whoever I happen to be travelling with for the day. I've seen these public, long distance versions before, and they are grim looking affairs.

In the back of that pickup (from which it is very difficult to see the view, making it even more annoying) an unlucky thirteen of us wedged ourselves in -- five on each of the benches along either side, and three sitting on several 50-kilo bags of rice down the middle. A motorbike was tied to the back on the small platform normally used to aid in boarding and deboarding, and several baskets of chickents were lashed to the side panels of the metal roof. Two other foreigners were on the trip with me, a couple from Bordeaux, and they ended up sitting on the motorbike, holding on for dear life as we screeched down the twisty mountain road.

We only made one stop, to add water to the radiator, but it was just as well. The presence of the motorbike made it quite difficult to get in and out. By the time we arrived in Oudomxai I feaqred my knee was permanently locked in a very painful position.

I had fully intended to break up my journey by staying in Oudomxai overnight. But in exploring my transportation options for the continuation to Luang Nam Tha, I discovered that not only bwas a connecting vehicle scheduled to leave in an hour (meaning two hours), but it was, in fact., a BUS. A lovely, ancient, cargo-filled, chicken infested public bus. Naturally, I couldn't pass it up -- lord only knew what they would foist upon me if I waited until the following day. So here I am in Luang Nam Tha, relacxing after my gorgeous bus ride made in luxuriant comfort. Seats with backs! Windows that open and close! Travelling in SE Asia really makes you appreciate the little things in life.

Copyright 2003 Katy Warren





posted by Katy at 8:10 PM