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Published: January 15th 2007
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Ready for Rain
Off to explore Hue in my new slicker and hat Getting from Vientiane, Laos, to Hue, Vietnam, has been quite the adventure. We thought the first 10-hour leg of the trip, from Vientiane to Savannakhet, was going to be a breeze as we left the bus station on a spacious bus where everyone had a seat. About an hour into the trip, the bus stopped on the side of the road for what we thought was a pee break. We waited and waited until another bus came up behind us and the driver told us we all needed to get our things and move to the other bus. His shift was over. I sat next to an old woman with a basket of baby chicks. They got to be pretty smelly after a while, but the entertainment factor compensated for the stink factor. As soon as the old woman fell asleep, the chicks started hopping out of the basket and making their way down the aisle. It was a group effort, but we somehow managed to corral all of the chicks back into the basket before the old woman woke up.
Justin, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on things up front. The spedometer and odometer were broken, as was the
Packing the Bus
There is lots of room for cargo atop the bus horn. The driver made do by touching two live wires to the metal piece around the key hole to make the horn sound. Big sparks flew every time. Apparently there was trouble with the transmission as well, as the bus crew attempted to fix it while we were ambling along. Then our driver started playing chicken with another local bus. They flew down the highway, one in both lane, until an oncoming vehicle would force one or the other to let the other back onto the right side of the road. Although I thought our chances of survival were slim, we made it safely to Savannakhet 12 hours later.
The bus to Vietnam left the next evening, so we spent the day in Savannakhet reading books in a local park. It was a great way to end our stay in Laos. We arrived at the bus station early to stake our our seats. We were persistent in attempting to board the bus, but the officials were more so in discouraging us. Fifteen minutes before our bus was to leave, the VIP bus with party lights moved out of the slot and our bus moved in -- it was basically
Baby Chicks
Smelly but entertaining bus companions the bus version of my old Bonanza pickup. The front half of the bus had hard metal seats; the back half was open for luggage. This was going to be a long ride. It went something like this: first gear, second gear, third gear, SCREECH! Swerve to miss an unlit construction barrier in the road, back down to first gear, second gear, third gear, SCREECH! Another barrier (or the occasional cow). Our driver was awesome, however, and we managed only to lose one window pane that was apparently loose to begin with.
We parked at the border at 2 a.m., about five hours before the border actually opened. We did get a few hours of sleep until the money changer people came on board and started soliciting business. They left me alone after about 50 tries, but poor Justin got hounded for hours as he politely and calmly replied, "No, thank you." I guess the "thank you" part is enough ammunition for them to keep trying. Finally the border opened and after a few stamps here and a few more stamps there, we were on our way to Hue. Or so we thought...
A nice woman asked us where we were going and when we told her, she said, "Oh, you got on the wrong bus. That bus was parked next to this one -- it was much nicer." The bus driver found out about our predicament and dropped us off in the pouring rain 15 km from town. We hitched a ride on the back of a couple of motorbikes and once again, I thought the ride would be my last. Fortunately, the 250-lb. pig on the back of another motorbike gave me inspiration -- if he could make it, so could I.
We really enjoyed the rain in Hue as it was the first precipitation we'd seen since coming to Southeast Asia. We bought bright-colored rain slickers and I got a conical hat that makes an excellent umbrella. We toured the town in style. The architecture and people were wonderful. We were a bit worried about how we would be received as Americans, but everyone was very nice. On the one day it didn't rain, we took a motorbike tour of the city, visiting pagodas, tombs, and neighboring villages. Our drivers also took us to the South China Sea, where we ate fresh seafood and drank lots of Tiger beers. It was lovely.
We are now in Hoi An, shopping capital of Vietnam. We haven't gotten as good of a vibe here. I think it is a combination of hitting a travel wall, not being shoppers, losing our ATM card and an old woman slapping me on the legs today because I didn't have any money to give her. We did rent bicycles and rode to the sea again, which was definitely the highlight of our stay here. We're leaving for Dalat tomorrow, where there are mountains and waterfalls and other bits of nature to explore.
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Andrew Barrett
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Missing Taxes?
Typical tax season so far. I am grumpy. John is grumpy. We have so few tax preparers and of course everyone comes in on the weekend close to closing time. :(. But oh well, sure you don't want to fly back and help out :). Any how I like to check up on the trip everynow and then and read your stories. They are very entertaining. Thank You.