Express bus to Vang Vieng, Laos

Mandy: Tuesday 25th November

We had a 9.30am pick up so we sat in the communal area/reception from 9am in case they were early…….they turned up 10.30am!

We waved farewell to the lovely staff at the Moonlight Champa Guest House. (Smile) The bus was nearly full but they drove around the corner to another hotel and squeezed two more in. So off we go. We were excited to be going to Vang Vieng (smile)

There was an Asian lady sat in front of me who would suddenly clap her hands together, I assumed to kill Mosquitos. A few minutes later we stopped again. The driver got out and a local lady got on shouting “BeerLao……water?” I guess she was selling it not asking for it as she also had a plastic bag full of with nuts and Pringles (yes they sell Pringles here but they are seaweed flavour) Then a guy on a small Tuk Tuk type bike thing stopped at the open door of the bus selling icecreams! No one spoke to him or got up to buy one so he got off his Tuk Tuk and came in with a handful of icecreams….still no takers, we just wanted to get going to Vang Vieng.

There was an older Asian lady in the front seat who had made herself comfy with her feet on the dashboard but she kept ‘kecking’ (if there is such a word) I remember Nan Permial always said about having the keckums. (smile)

I could see from the shadows out of the window that there was a man on the roof of the bus sorting our bags. I say sorting, he could have been rooting through the bags. (Concerned look) Glen said he was probably putting a cover over the bags before we left. Suddenly a smart-ish official looking man got on our bus and asked for our tickets. Everyone handed their pieces of paper over except one couple who said they had given their tickets to the driver nearly two hours ago! Hec we were lucky to have been one of the last people to be picked up. He didn’t seem to be happy about the missing tickets but let them stay on. The driver finally got back in the bus and we drove off…….just around the corner! This time we had stopped for petrol, (people jumped off for toilets), well as we established they had been on bus for nearly two hours already!

We finally pulled onto the ‘main’ road and off we went. We were on our way I thought (smile) But no we then drove down a ‘no entry’ road into the bus station! But our bus was full! Why were we stopping? Off the driver went again and eventually came back with more paperwork in his hand; It was now 11.15am (bearing in mind this is the 10am bus)

We now had a three hour journey ahead of us, or it could be less it depends when they started timing it from i guess. We could actually be nearly there! (Smile)

The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky (smile) which was a relief as I noticed the tyres were bald! Glen said not to worry it would be fine so long as it didn’t rain.

All the while the thirty something Asian lady in front of us continued to clap her hands above her head and the Chinese lady in the front seat kecked away as if she had a fur ball, as we bumped along the road through the countryside. Happy days.

We passed tree, after tree, after motorbike, after washing strewn tree, avoiding the pot holes as we went. We over-took women on bikes with small towels on their head to keep the sun off. We passed herds of cattle and little children far too close to the road with no adult in sight to be telling them to be careful. Ahhhh! we just had the tyres tested! We pulled up suddenly to avoid a van and a huge car in front…not sure what that was about! Glen has just looked up shook his head and then continued reading about Cambodia. At least the tyres did their job.

Did I mention the windscreen had a huge crack all the way down the front? Like fork lightening! We over-took big VIP buses that didn’t look much newer and we had heard as much. Not sure why they are called VIP buses, or why ours is called an ‘express’ either!

The women in the front seat seemed to be getting a blast of dust through the air vents as her kecking was getting worse and she was occasionally heaving! The soil outside on the roads was now red (like you found in Cambodia Courtney) and I could smell it in the aircon.

We were winding our way down the straight roads to avoid pot holes, herds of goats and cows and school kids in their hundreds on bikes suddenly either side of the road.

We just passed a huge sign advertising some sort of diggers. Which reminds me none of my work colleagues replied to the email I sent about the makes of diggers we have seen here, I think I actually attached a photo of a Doosan digger too. Oh well maybe they have sent me to Coventry. (Excuse the pun!)

I am now getting a bit concerned for the health of the lady in the front seat; her head is back and she has been silent for quite a while…… Hope she is ok.

A French guy just left his seat and went up to the driver to ask him to slow down….it’s not the speed it’s the overtaking. Not sure the driver can speak or understand English though. Writing this blog means I am not noticing so much of the bad driving which is a good thing!

We have slowed right down now as all the vans and buses crawl over the wet, newly laid, Tarmac glimmering in the sun! We might get some tread back on the tyres once we pick up gravel on the sticky wheels later! And another positive thought is that perhaps the tar will help the ladies cough. (Wink)

I thought Glen was reading about hotels and places to visit in Cambodia but he has just told me that he has read that although ‘smoking’ marijuana is illegal there it’s legal to ‘eat’ it so you will see ‘happy pizza’ and ‘very happy pizzas’ on menus! God I can’t get him to eat a bleedin pizza at home but suddenly he has an interest in a thin crust with extra herbs! It’s a win win situation for the cafe owners I would have thought; you order a pizza then a bit later you get the munchies and order another! No wonder it’s legal, it’s a nice little earner! Oh the lady in the front really needs to spit now. I bet after all this red dust coming through the vent it will look like she had been chewing betel leaves when she finally gets a chance to clear her throat!

We’ve arrived! Just look at the view from our hotel bedroom window! That was worth the four hour journey (smile)