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Published: November 16th 2010
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We left Vietnam with a real sour taste in our mouths.. not because of the coffee (produced to taste like Civet cat poo coffee) .. but because of the foul, horrid men that drove the bus to Laos. It wasn’t really because we broke down 2hrs out of Hanoi or the fact that while we waited 24hrs (TWENTY FOUR HOURS) on the side of a motorway with no toilet, air conditioning, fresh water or food that we were unhappy. It wasn’t even the next 24hrs of swapping buses and re swapping buses back to the now fixed mean machine or even the second breakdown (this was fortunately next to a hut with a nice fridge full of very cold beer) that made us grumble.
It was quite simply the disgusting behaviour of the Vietnamese men who were on our bus. Shouting, to the point of spitting at us, elbowing people in the head, banging against your back if you were on your side, sneering at you if you blew your nose or physically pushing you to ‘HURRY UP!’ when in fact the reason you can’t push your way through border control ‘IS BECAUSE THE BORDER OFFICIAL IS PUTTING A VISA
Looks comfy eh?
Well after 47.5hrs it had as much appeal as a bad case of dysentery. IN MY PASSPORT!’.
Thankfully we had two other couples with us.. ‘backpackers’ - allegedly hated by people in Hanoi because they don’t spend enough money. It became very clear that these men needed us though as they were smuggling goods across the border, using us and our bags to cover this up. If only we hadn’t been another eight hours away from our destination, we would’ve revealed them to all concerned. Would that have made a difference, we wonder, after seeing them pass a bribe.
So after the 48hour journey from hell, we took refuge in a room in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A wonderful treat compared to what we’d been through, people who smile and have kindness in their faces. There was such a relaxed atmosphere it was difficult to believe we were in the hub of the country. Two nights here and we were ready, if a little apprehensive, to get on another bus to Vang Vieng in the North.
Vang Vieng is famous for tubing. It’s basically a pub crawl along a river and the mode of transport involves plonking yourself in a blow up ring (with as much dignity as possible) and
floating from one bar to the next. ‘How do you get out?’ was my first question. Oh no problem, people throw ropes at you and pull you to the side. There’re slides and swings and all sorts of opportunity to hurt yourself. The drinks are served in buckets (much like the ones you make sandcastles out of). ‘A bucket of Mojito please’ - what an awesome drinks order. It was Fun! We really wonder if this could be introduced in Manchester.
Well, seeing as we’re grown ups and restricted ourselves to of buckets we were able to make our connection to Luang Prabang, even further North, the next day. We’ve been here now a few days and love it. We’ve managed to swindle our way in to a brand new hotel on the bank of the Mekong River with the most delicious bed and fluffy pillows. We’ve got a teeny tiny balcony (that I’m sitting on to type this) which gives us views of the road, excellent for people watching, and the river behind.
It’s so relaxed and peaceful - the Loas way, it seems. This is the place to come if you want to write
a book or walk along in white floaty clothes drinking expensive wine.
We’re hoping to get on a slow boat tomorrow to take us along the river where we’ll spend a night in Pak Beng, before heading on to the border. It’s a shame that we don’t have more time for Laos - we’ll be visiting again for sure, bringing an extra suitcase to buy all the lovely handmade things in the night market.
We hope that everything is going well at home. It’s not just times when we’re sweating on a broken bus surrounded by evil people that we think about you, but also when we’re floating down rivers in rubber tubes and walking along pretty streets in wonderful towns wishing that you could pop across for a bit.
Lots of Laotian love
S&S
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M&D
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Peaceful haven
So pleased you had a little fun on the tubes and found a peaceful haven to recover from that dreadful journey. The slow boat looks really nice, have a great time. lots of love xxxx