The Bus Ride from ....

Well, from HuayXai to Luang Prabang.   To get from one to the other you can:  take the "slow boat" down the Mekong (2 days + 1 night in a dumpy river town), the "fast boat" (only a few fatalities a year....), the day long minivan arriving after dark, or the VIP Night Bus.

All the choices were, um, not exciting but I opted for the VIP Night Bus.  Enough boats already on this trip & I much prefer arriving in the morning to new places rather than at night.  And a Night Bus means you don't have to book a hotel...that's a real savings!!

And a VIP Night Bus...exactly what does that mean?  Maybe the A/C works, maybe the brakes work,  maybe the seats recline, maybe the bus stops for bathroom breaks.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Somehow after waiting a bit too long at the station, all the passengers sense we are about to depart.  So we line up and board the bus.  It seems large -- luggage below (even a couple of motorbikes) and passengers sit up above.  I am in seat 5.  Second row on the window.  Fine.  Being the VIP bus they pass out water bottles to each passenger.  And then...barf bags.  This is starting to not seem like fun.

We wait a bit longer for some late arrivals (a bus goes better when it is full--this has been shown all over Asia) and so there will be no chance to shift around and get 2 seats.  Really not fun now.

Off we set at 6:30pm as it is getting dark.  I had hoped to see some of the countryside, but it was not easy.  Thick smog/haze/smoke is everywhere.  I haven't seen blue sky for at least 10 days.

The road is quite twisty and windy -- north then east then south.  A bird would be there in no time but we will take at least 12 hours.  Thank goodness the rains have not started as long sections are not paved.  Really not fun.

But the driver seemed very cautious; and we only came across a few locations where traffic had backed up (? mechanical problems) so one lane control.  

Someone onboard was playing some nasty techno Thai-Lao-Chinese music that no ear plugs could blog.  My seat mate watched Amadeus on his netbook.

Those bathroom breaks -- well, the bus stopped and you were welcome to use the dirt field behind the abandoned trucks.  Really not fun, but heh it was dark!

A long night.  Only a few times did I think:  What have I done now?  Who thought this could be fun?

But time goes along.  We arrived in about 12 hours.  The baggage comes flying out from under the bus.  The tuk-tuk drivers swarm like flies and pretty soon I am at a hotel.  Well, my suitcase is there and I can check in "later."  I head off to walk the streets.  And for breakfast:  a chocolate croissant and real coffee.  Yup, the French were here.

I think that was my last all night bus ride!