Browsing Posts published on March 1, 2010
Bus travel in Laos, is well, less than desireable. Travel to and within Laos has really only opened up in the past 20 or so years and the infrastructure to move people about is still very lacking. If that. Roads between cities are unpaved, usually between 1-2 lanes for both directions of travel and are very windy roads that snake between clusters of huts.
Our first experience in Laos bus travel began in Huay Xai. We had planned to take the slow boat south to Luang Prabang, but the level of water in the Mekong wasn’t high enough so we were relegated to overland travel. Thinking we would be efficient travelers, we bought our tickets ahead of time to secure our seats on the bus. Upon our requested arrival time at the office to take a minivan to the bus station, we were informed that the woman who sold us our tickets had inadvertantly forgotten to book us seats. So technically we didn’t have any transport out of Huay Xai. But immediately she admitted her mistake, which we appreciated, and told us she would send us in a minivan (which normally costs more $$) but had to fill it with 6 more people before we could leave. Seeing as how we were in no rush, that was fine with us.
More importantly, we were overjoyed at not being on that bus. We had heard from others who had taken it that it’s 14 or so hours, the road isn’t paved, there are no toilets on board, the seats don’t go back and are broken, causing you to lurch forward or backward into the seats of people around you depending on the curves in the road, it breaks down frequently, toilet stops are bushes on the side of the road, it’s packed to the gills with people, including people sitting in the aisles, the A/C is on full blast and our fave thing about Asian travel—Thai, or Laos Music at full decibels. All. Night. Long. So the idea of being in a minivan where we might have a say in the music level, A/C and toilet stops appealed to us.
We eventually rounded up some more foreigners and left around 7pmish. Rumor has it our minivan ride would be around 10 or so hours and we all had our hopes up that it would be a decent trip. Turns out, we were right about having a say in the music and A/C levels as well as toilet stops. Unfortunately our seats didn’t go back and leg room was minimal for some. None of us in our group of 4 got any sleep and we arrived in Luang Prabang around 6am, feeling pretty miserable. Upon arrival in the city center, we all got out and swore that we would never again take an overnight bus, no matter the situation. (We later heard that the bus we didn’t get seats on had an awful ride south. There were 3 buses filled to the brim with passengers, people were sick and sitting in the aisles, they went 15 hours without a toilet stop and arrived at 4pm–almost 12 hours after their scheduled ETA.)
Fast forward 4 days. We are now departing Luang Prabang for the Laos Capital of Vientiane. Our bus options are all over night ones. Go figure. So we suck it up and buy tickets, all with our fingers crossed that we would survive. The downside was that there was no toilet on the bus so pit stops were in the bushes on the side of the road, totally manageable. People were sitting in the aisles on plastics stools. Oh, and those people got motion sick, puking into plastic bags, so kindly given out by the bus company. Oh, and those people were sitting in the aisle between and in front of our row of seats. Oh, and they kinda accidentally puked onto James’ foot. Oh, and this went on for a couple of hours. The upside of the ride was that there was no music. At all. That went a long way with us. Nor was the A/C on full blast which was appreciated.
I write this in Vientiane, watching the sun rise, as we arrived at 4:30am. Kyra and I have been out looking for a hostel, but surprisingly none are open at this hour. Neither are any cafes, although I think we might have found one to relocate the men folk to while we continue to pound the pavement. We are all operating on about 3 hours sleep in the past 26 hours, having gotten up at 5:15am yesterday (whenever that was) to watch the monks receive alms.
As you can imagine, we have once again pledged to never take an overnight bus again. Let’s see how long that will last this time.
