Out of Luang Prabang

After a very unexpected postal bill the night before it was good to feel thrifty again while on the way to the bus station. It was 320,000 kip for the two of us to catch the VIP bus to Vientiane, a saving of about 2m kip.....which basically went on stamps to end our parcels home. We had a terrific last night though, sampling more of the local rice whisky, very good it was too.



The ride the next morning was another little surprise though. I had expressly asked when booking that I needed to have leg room and a bathroom for the journey was a must (we desperately needed to rehydrate) after the trekking the day before. As has been usual in Asia, I simply did not fit in the VIP bus, plus the bacthroom was out of order. It was certainly an experience though. 10 hours of sticky crampedness and the only saving grace was that Rin and I got two whole seats to ourselves. I simply could not have sat otherwise. Even Rin was terribly cramped due to the two girls in fron of her reclining fully and crashing out for the entirity of the journey. You do pass through some exquisitely beautiful countryside though....not that you can see it that clearly through the filthy windows. Like something out of Lord Of The Rings, you wind through precipitous mountain roads that remain muddy and unpaved, onto valley trails that wind to the next pass. Stopping ocassionally to pour water on the brakes and for passengers to relieve the pressure cooker pascals on their bladders. The distance is only about 380kms, but it must be driven with unerring care, with potholes, other cars, motorbikes, water buffalo and people lurking around every hairpin in the road. The driver was incredible in keeping the crate on the road, my hat off to him in every way.