On the road in Laos

Laos - after a good time in Vientiane we headed for what turned to be my favorite so far - Luang Probang. We got there on a local bus as seen on the picture. The trip was not bad - we had our own seats and no babies were handed to us for the ride. The local habits are becoming the usual - just imagine bathrom break is literally side of the road experience. Also adding to it is the presence of a "security guard" here captured in action. The trip provided us with some good views of the country, its people and with some really nice scenery when passing Vang Vieng (which we had to skip to keep our itinerary less hectic). It was disturbing however to see fires right next to the road followed by fields just burned, sometimes replanted with banana tree seedlings.

After Luang Probang we were off to taste something different in Laos. We headed north for the "less-civilized" experience. We sure got it. The trip from Luang Probang to Luang Nam Tha was not so gentle on our bodies. 14 people in a 10 person seat minivan. Does not sound that bad, right? WRONG Imagine the seat divider right across your back for 8 hours. Imagine your hips crammed against on both sides by somebody else's, all sweating profusely for 8 hours. Imagine sitting in the back row of a van with no rear shocks, on a crappy road with a bad driver for 8 hours. Really - if you are planning the trip save up the extra $70 and go via an airplane. We thought that the views will make up for it. Instead we just got depressed seeing many trees being cut, many fields on fire. Beautiful panoramic views were also impossible due to the ever extended smo(g)/ke in the air. We did pass many villages though and seeing the country side did give us more of a feel of the region.

In Lam Nam Tha we spent a night. The town/village was our jump off point for the tribal experience around the village of Mui Singh. However - after we have learned more about the area we decide to change our destimation from Mui Singh (which appeared to become a more known touristy tekking place) to Vieng Phouka which had about 2 paragraphs dedicated to in "Lonely Planet bible". To get to that viallage we went to the bus station. The "bus" (imagine a pick-up truck with wooden benches in the back) was to leave at noon and would gladly pick us up at our guesthouse on the way. Happy we run home to be ready. 12, 12:30, 1 - ... still no sign of the "bus". James borrowed a bike to go and enquire. No worry - the bus was still at the station waiting for more people. Around 2 PM we were picked up for the journey. Things are getting better as the road is being updated to a "highway", but for now the pavement is "spotty". On the "bus" we sat right across from some locals and got to see a funeral procession and again several local villages. Two hours really went by quite fast and we were there ... Vieng Phouka.