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Published: January 26th 2013
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The day of the epic bus journey has arrived.....
Most of the morning is spent getting together some warm clothes (can't believe I've had to buy a jumper!!) And lots of food supplies for the trip.
Lunch time calls for one last visit to our favourite restaurant and you guessed it fried rice with shrimp and pineapple, I could live of this dish. Whilst eating we meet two lovely ladies from Melborne, Julia and Andrea. Swapping emails we say our good and hope to look them up when we head to Australia
I do get a take away of my favourite dish for the journey, couldn't resist!
The day seems to drag as we are waiting 5 o'clock to come around, sitting in the hotel lobby we are entertained by one of the owners daughters, she's so cute, only 17monthsmbut always got a smile on her face, she even waves us off when the time comes.
Eventually around 5.30 a guy arrives on a moped.....surely not! No thankfully he's just showing us to the mini bus around the corner.
The ride to the bus station takes around 40 minutes, picking up other contestants for the
brutal journey.
At the bus station we are shown to our bus (if you are reading this and are thinking of doing this journey only pay 850,000, that's the price that was on our ticket.)
Shown to the bus its a much older than the previous ones we have been on, but this seems better only having one level of beds so much more room.
Its 6.40pm, Mentally prepared everyone settles down and were off.....
Weaving around the local roads picking up the locals and they're supplies they are transporting, all sorts go into the holdall, bags of wood, grain, kettles, furniture and whatever else they can squeeze.
2hours later we stop for our break, so far so good and the place isn't charging a fortune.
Back on the road everyone starts to settle down for the night, OK he thing we have noticed is that the bus driver doesn't seem to be 'horn happy' fingers crossed!
The roads aren't great as we already knew so the night is about bumpy, but its a lot better than expected, they did seem to be stopping quiet a lot, not sure if it was people
getting on and off or what, I was to drowzy to py much attention.
By 4 o'clock the next morning we must have started headed into the mountains as the turns came sharp and hard at point, followed by the breaks, best not to see at this point I think!
By 6am I was fully awake, and the smell of smoke keeps drifting up the bus, funny how theres a no smoking sign just above their heads!
I knew we would be due into the boarder at some point wanted to be prepared.
7.30am we arrive, at nothing more than a few building in between the mountains and dirt track heading up towards 'Laos'. (The border didn't open until 8am so we had to wait a while)
The scenery is very mystical, the mountains are covered in a thick fog so just what we are appears to in existence.
The process goes surprisingly smoothly, no one tried ripping anyone off, when we walked across to get ours Laos visa's no problem there either, I didn't even have to pay extra for not having a picture! $36 each not bad.....
Back on the bus and its just gone 9, breakfast consisted of crackers, cashew nuts and some banana chips yummy! Missing my fruit salad.
Driving along through more mountainous roads, this time we can see... At one point they had to go and wedge rocks under the back tyres as they couldn't get the bus up a part of the hill. The landscape is still very green and lush, as the for clears so the temperature rises, we've found the sun again!
The building are immediately noticeably different from those we left behind in Vietnam, these so far are no more than wooden shacks, live stock wander the streets people stop and stare as the bus passes by.
By 2pm we are in desperate need of the toilet and some nutritious food we eventually stop in a small town, one things form sure is the toilet facilities are definitely not improving!
I sit with a couple that I have met from Germany, they actually live in Berlin!
One tuna sandwich later and we are rearing to go, apparently 8hours from here to Luang Probang.
The journey from here is beautiful, we are back on the mountainous roads, shear drop one side and forest the other. Dotted along the way are little villages, reminds me very much of Chi phat. I'm thinking it'll be nice to try and come and arrange a home stay at one, it be nice to try and experience their way of life.
We watch as the sun goes down and the sky turns red.... The next minute we are parked up at the side of the road, it looks like a problem with one of the tyres, not again! Getting out to stretch our legs and the temperature and dropped considerably already so we wait back on the bus with crossed fingers.
I have booked somewhere to stay tonight but what I didn't realise is, is that in Luang Probang there is a curfue of 11pm, hope they wait up for us.
We get underway again, but its very dark and having seen what the roads are like throughout the day, I'm now slightly nervous!
We arrive into Luang Prabang at just after 10pm, still feel quite alive after it. Out of all the travellers on the bus we are the only ones to have a place booked for the nigh, everyone decides to head for the same destination, the old town.
Arriving at Sihan guesthouse we say are good byes, hoping that well bump into each other over the next few days.
The room is just what the doctor ordered, a comfortable bed and a hot shower....bliss!
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