Sunday Roast

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It was an early one today to make sure that I was packed and had enough time for breakfast before our pickup. I could feel the temperature starting to rise as I walked up the street with my bag, it was going to be a hot one. I arrived at the bakery where Nick, Lisa and Nicky had already ordered and were drinking their mugs of tea. I decided on omelette today rather than a boat load of pastry and was glad I had because it was delightful. It was 8.15am as the tuc tuc drivers started to hassle us and we had begun to get fidgety about the fact that Tim and Matt hadn't shown their faces yet, so I wandered over to make sure they were up. It turned out that we needn't have worried because the the 8.30am pickup was running to Laos time and didn't arrive until 9.05am. We picked up another four people and squeezed all ten of us into the nine seater minivan to take us to the bus station.

Once at the bus terminal we unloaded ourselves and our bags from one minivan to another with a little more difficulty than we expected. As much as Laotian people are quick to make an extra penny here and there, their common-sense is somewhat lacking. Our new driver had decided to put all the small backpacks on first followed by the larger ones, of which mine was one. Once he had discovered that they wouldn't fit his friend told us that they'd be put on another minivan also headed to Vang Vieng. Although I tried explain that if he repacked the roof rack it would all fit, he was having none of it and so was faced with a stand off as Nick and I refused to let our bags go. The one thing that has stuck with me from all the travel literature that I've read is always make sure you're bag isn't left behind if things get unpacked, and although he may have been thinking 'pain in the arse tourist' I was standing my ground. Eventually another driver was found with a different minivan who loaded the large bags first and had room in the boot for the smaller ones that wouldn't fit on top.

We set off almost an hour late but were happier to be together on the same bus with our bags. We passed along similar winding mountain roads that we had started our journey in Laos on three days ago. This time was far more pleasant in the more modern air-conditioned minivan without any vomity passengers. The hills here were filled with greenery and as we passed through small bamboo hut villages the children came running out to wave at us. Much to our amusement and horror some of them held out what looked like small furs. On closer inspection we saw that they were actually some type of rat they were holding up in bunches from their outstretched arms, some still wriggling as they did.

After a small pitstop for a bite to eat we continued through the mountains toward Vang Vieng. Many parts of the hillside were smoking and smouldering as we passed through and square sections of hill side were free from any sort of bushes or trees at all. The square sections of bare hillside had stilted shacks next to them which led me to believe that they must use some sort of rotational crop farming here due to the lack of flat land they had available. It was fascinating to see how the people had adapted to the land and were trying to make the most of what was available to them. I was trying desperately hard to catch up on blogs and take everything in as we drove, so that I could more easily cut and paste them from my phone when we arrived.

Before long we arrived at the bus station in Vang Vieng to be greeted by the usual chorus of 'Hello, tuc tuc?'. The six of us piled onto the first one we saw and after establishing a price we showed him the address and headed into town. Sadly we hadn't picked the driver that knew the town dreadfully well and were shown two other hostels before he was pointed in the right direction. We arrived at Pleasant View guesthouse, the only accommodation that was available in town, just after 4pm. The guesthouse overlooked part of the Mekong river, sadly my view contained all of about five centimetres of it but yet again the bed and the room itself were lovely and comfy. We agreed to meet at 7.30pm so we had chance to unwind. My first priority was to organise my visa to Vietnam. I had decided to fly to Hanoi rather than risk another hellish twenty-four hours in a bus but needed the visa to avoid a delay at the airport. After having some awful mugshots taken and handing over $60 (£37) my visa was guaranteed to be back with me by Tuesday morning. My next important task was to Skype home and wish Mum a happy mothers day before I got distracted. I was keen to see Will too as I hadn't seen him since I left Heathrow. We chatted for ages about what had happened through Thailand and over the last couple of days and I also managed to chat to Dad who said he would contact the Sofitel in Brisbane for me about work in Australia.

I met back up with the gang who had found a pub serving Sunday roast. It was funny as it was the one thing we all agreed we had been missing since traveling. I ordered beef and it came with proper gravy, fresh crunchy vegetables and a half a giant homemade Yorkshire pudding. Sadly the roast potatoes were more like sauté potatoes but at least the thought was there. It wasn't like a roast you get at home but it made it feel like Sunday. The gang wanted to head out to one of the many bars playing endless repeats of 'Friends' and 'Family Guy' to grab another couple of beers. We were going to head out tubbing tomorrow and follow the crowds, now returning to town, in getting blind drunk and swinging from obscenely high ropes into the river. I had started to feel a bit ropey after dinner, so I made my excuses and headed back to the guesthouse in the hope that an early night would help me feel better and rested for an all day drinking binge tomorrow.

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