A Hard Days Night…

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So, here’s what happened next on our travels…

Charlotte and Jack left town on motorbikes, destined for further exploration of the Laos countryside, Andreas and Roland departed via a transport, and Lisandro quit work and bailed for Vietnam on the sleeper bus.

Emma and I booked a minibus transport for Vientiane with a lunchtime departure time, ate breakfast, briefly sighted two female American punk rockers who we had prior spied in Luang Prabang, and killed time waiting for our pick up.

Eventually said transport arrived, and we were on our way. The lavish scenery continued, and the roads wound through the countryside, until eventually the rural environment subsided for the more familiar urban conurbations of a city, and we arrived in Vientiane itself, the capital city of Laos.

Emma and I located a budget guesthouse more or less opposite where we had been dropped off, and ventured out to explore, consuming a meal in a French styled restaurant, which sold baguettes and cheese. We were both surprised at how sedate the city seemed to be. A brief jaunt took us up to the market which is located adjacent to the river, and we supped a beer at a bar frequented by westerners, but child and local beggars put us off somewhat, as despite offering them small change, there is a limit as to how much you can give overall.

Returning in the general direction of our hotel, we heard music and noticed searchlights roaming the night sky. Closer inspection revealed that a pre New Year music festival was in full swing, and was sponsored by Beer Laos, who were celebrating their 40th year of business. What was quite nice was that the festival was rammed with hundreds of young people, who we suspected were fairly affluent, judging by their designer clothes and hip styles.

Moreover, the festival was free, and hosted a surreal mix of dance and rock music, sandwiched between competitions and giveaways for attendees, all sponsored by Beer Laos, which afforded festival goers the opportunity to win cash prizes or technology such as I-phones etc. We seized the moment, grabbed a beer, and settled down for a good nights entertainment!

The following day we went for a general wander of the city streets. Truth be told there is relatively little to see and do in Vientiane, but the capital deserves points for being so chilled out; it was so relaxed it was untrue, especially in comparison with any European capital city. We couldn’t believe how calm and ordered it all was.

Whilst in the area, we both took a stroll up to the C.O.P.E Visitor Centre, which was comparable to the UXO Centre in Luang Prabang, and serves to highlight the difficulties experienced by the people of Laos, due to the millions of unexploded bombs which litter the country, following the Vietnam War. The C.O.P.E Centre is located within the grounds of a hospital, and as a result, there is a huge emphasis on the rehabilitation of victims utilising prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and such like. It is worth a visit, and should you be passing, keep a half eye open for the green cat that lurks around the hospital buildings. Your guess is as good as mine as to the cause of this particular felines appearance…

Later on our second day we met up once more with Leon and Jonas, from Germany. The latter had been in a personal war of his own – he had picked up some type of parasite whilst travelling in Cambodia, which apparently mimicked the side effects of food poisoning. Luckily he had medical insurance, and ended up receiving medical treatment. As a consequence, the pair of them had seen little of Cambodia, other than the interior of a hospital.

Jonas and Leon who we first met in Myanmar

None the less, by the time we hooked up with them, Jonas was well and truly on the mend, so the four of us ate a meal, and then we returned to the location of the music festival, which Emma and I had attended the night before. The festival was still in full swing, it seemed to be a nightly countdown to New Years Eve itself, which was still 24 hours away.

The entertainment was ‘Same, Same, But Different’, so the four of us drank and danced the night away. In fact, I think our participation may have been a little too energetic, as Emma noticed that at the end of the dance-techno set performed by the resident DJ, the locals had cleared a large circle adjacent to, and around us. Ho Hum. Suffice to say a good time was had by all.

The following day we had booked on to the (so called) night sleeper bus, to The Thousand Islands. Emma and I loitered at the travel agent awaiting for the bus to arrive, but were eventually collected by a Tuk Tuk, which was rammed with people, and ferried to the Coach Station. Thereafter, estimates as to what time the sleeper bus would depart varied wildly. Upon arrival, we were told it would be leaving in fifteen minutes, so we hastily exchanged our vouchers for tickets, and ran to the relevant terminal.

Upon getting there, it transpired that our fellow passengers had been instructed that the bus would depart at anything between fifteen to ninety minutes time. Emma and I accessed the bus, only to discover that our bunk was ridiculously narrow, and there was insufficient length on the bed for yours truly to even stretch out my legs. When the bus finally did leave the station almost an hour later, at around seven thirty PM, any passengers who were travelling alone had discovered that they would be sharing their undersized bed with a totally random stranger!

We cracked a beer and took stock of the situation. To my amazement a large percentage of the flash-packers aboard settled down to sleep, more or less immediately. I later learned that many young people consume valium for purpose – it’s available over the counter at most Laos pharmacies. Thereafter, we embarked upon the most uncomfortable journey of our entire travels. I couldn’t sleep, the rural roads ensured we were thrown around our bunk making sleep impossible, and there was no cigarette/convenience stop until one thirty in the morning 😦

I loathed that trip it has to be said. To compound matters, we were next to the toilet, so there was a constant flurry as passengers went to and from the WC, forming a queue by us, and someone also managed to lock the door as they left the toilet, which necessitated one of the crew to have to force the door lock open. My only solace in the whole miserable experience was that I had had to take my Doctor Martins off, my feet stank, so the irritating flash-packers were subjected to a good whiff of them, whilst interrupting my futile attempts to doze off.

Finally, we arrived at Pakse, at a reasonably squalid bus station, awash with Tuk Tuk drivers, at around six AM. We were instructed we would have to wait for a connecting transport in the cold, which we did, for about an hour. We were then driven a five minute journey to the offices of a travel agent, asked to get out, and then got stuck there for at least another hour, as the logistics of the passengers for the next stage of the journey were co-ordinated in a ramshackle fashion by the staff, none of whom particularly spoke much English.

Pakse bus station

Finally, amidst much jeering from our fellow frustrated passengers, we were all packed back into a minibus, and driven back to the Bus Station, where we collected a final female traveller, who had somehow found herself abandoned and alone there. Finally we were off – and our minibus drove at great speed when we finally escaped the town limits. So much so, that the driver had ruined the rear near side suspension, and Emma and I had the misfortune to be sitting above said wheel arch, which periodically emitted a loud clunk when we sped over potholes, as we belted down the highway like a bat out of Hell itself.

So is this Dave Lee Travis or Noel Edmonds? Answers on a postcard please…

A brief convenience break in the sunshine was a welcome respite from the chaos, certainly until a local vendor attempted to sell me roasted squirrels on sticks, and then we were back on the road. The minibus roared into Ban Nakasang at around midday, the driver attempted to oblige us to walk the last leg to the dock on foot, but then relented and drove us all the final 500 yards.

Once outside, we sauntered down to the coastline, and joined the crowds of travellers flocking to the boat transports to the Thousand Islands for New Years Eve. We mistakenly believed the boat journey would have a duration of ninety minutes, but it transpired the trip to the island of Don Det would take approximately twenty minutes.

Captain Trent on board

It had been a very long night, but finally we disembarked the boat and stepped onto the island – we had arrived in the nick of time for the evenings festivities!

Back to the mighty Mekong!

More next post!

Trent*/X

So is this Dave Lee Travis or Noel Edmonds? Answers on a postcard please…

Pakse bus station

Jonas and Leon who we first met in Myanmar

Captain Trent on board

Back to the mighty Mekong!