jai-dee Posted July 23, 2002 Report Share Posted July 23, 2002 The Nong Khiaw bus station doesn't really exist as such, the term is used to denote a particular location at the top of the village, next to the bridge. There are two restaurants across the street and this is where would-be travellers start gathering in the morning. There are six of us, waiting for transport towards the east. Sarah is from Melbourne, Stefan is from Switzerland, Margot is from Amsterdam, Bianca is also from Melbourne and Susanne is from Sweden. Susanne and Sarah met a few weeks ago in Thailand and decided to team up. They are trying to get to Sam Neua and on towards the Vietnamese border, which means we would be travelling together to Nam Noen, about half-way to Phonsavan. Sarah wears an enigmatic smile on her face all the time. She looks too dark-skinned to be an Australian, her dark curly hair supporting my suspicion that she is somewhere from the Mediterranean. As it turns out she is of Lebanese ancestry. Stefan has been travelling in South East Asia and elsewhere for months. He talks almost all the time in a slow, methodical manner. Whichever country in the world becomes the subject of the conversation, he knows all about it and starts telling his adventures there. Margot is a very attractive young girl. She too has been travelling for months. She is 23, she finished university and intends to start looking for a job in about six months time. The fact that she is travelling off the beaten track, far from comforts of the developed world, doesn't deter her from taking good care of her appearance. She wears a different outfit every day, and she files her fingernails several times a day so they are always in perfect shape. Time is passing slowly, we are sitting outside a restaurant, order something to eat and drink from time to time, and watch the village life around us. Nobody knows when a bus would come, or if it would come at all. Time and patience are two things that are required in large quantities in Laos. We are comforted by the fact that a few locals locals joined us in waiting. The truck on which we arrived from Luang Phabang yesterday, is parked across the street. The driver hangs around and it is obvious he doesn't work to any specific timetable. Several times we try to provoke him into driving us to Nam Noen but every time he shakes his head and tells that he is going back to Luang Phabang. Suddenly, around 10 o'clock, a man appears and announces that the truck is ready to go. Together with half a dozen locals we board the truck and off we go. We are excited, our patient waiting has paid off and we are on the way to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars. One thing bothers as though, the 5000 kip fare seems much too low. The road quickly leaves the valley and starts climbing. Soon we are well above the limestone hills around Nong Khiaw. Every time we pass through a village we are greeted by the villagers. The further we go the more friendly the local people are, they wave at us excitedly, as if they mistook us for some dignitaries. The children in particular are outright euphoric when they see us, they act as if somebody put a huge pile of ice-cream and chocolate in front of them. We are not quite sure why we deserve such a reception, but we enthusiastically wave back and shout our sabaidees. After 3 hours the truck stops in a small settlement, constisting of about 6 bamboo huts, unloads the passengers and turns back. The villagers don't understand English, none of us knows more than a few Lao words, but somehow we get the message that the situation is under control and another bus is going to pick us up soon. They point to one of the huts, which appears to be a waiting room. We sit down and calmly wait, oblivious to the fact that we are in the middle of the mountains, in a tiny village with absolutely no facilities and where daily traffic amounts to about half a dozen motor vehicles, mostly heavy logging or construction trucks. And indeed, after only 15 minutes a pickup truck appears from nowhere. The six of us climb in the back, together with several locals, and continue our journey. We sit on the hard floor as there are no seats. It is the first time in Laos that I am travelling in a vehicle with a powerful engine and the driver wants to squeeze all the power he can from it. The truck is speeding up the winding road. Every time it makes a sharp turn or breaks we all slide to one side or another. We keep rearranging our sitting positions but never find one in which more than one or two persons are comfortable. Every time it is Susanne who ends up in a comfortable position, she spends half the ride asleep on some soft bags while the rest of us try to stay in place, holding onto the sides of the truck in order to resist the centrifugal force. Most of the time we are travelling high on a mountain ridge which offers spectacular views. And although the sun is shining from the clear skies the cold mountain air and high speed make us painfully cold. The cold becomes more pronounced later in the afternoon when the shadows are longer, and by the nightfall we are shivering. Although we are supremely uncomfortable for the entire 8 hours the journey lasts, everybody is having a great time. Most of it is due to the unforgetably warm welcome the people in villages give us. The 4 girls, who write their travel diaries every day, discuss what they are going to write for today. They all agree to use the one word that should best describe the day: undescribable. At 5 o'clock we stop in Vieng Thong. We eagerly get off and stretch our limbs. We go to a large covered area which houses the market and food stalls. As usually the supply far exceeds the demand. By now we are quite hungry and thirsty, our last food was breakfast in Nong Khiaw. We survey the food on offer but nobody is brave enough to try anything unknown. We settle for noodle soup. While we are waiting for it I walk over to the market side to find some fruit. I find something that looks like melons, but its colour is different from every sort of melon I know. I'm not sure if it is a vegetable or a fruit, and the girl selling it doesn't understand what I am asking. I decide to buy one anyway, ask the girl to cut it into slices and bring it back to our table. We find out the melon is not sweet at all, it tastes somewhat like a bitter cucumber, but it is very juicy and we eat most of it. As the sun is setting down we continue our journey. At around 8 o'clock we start descending from the mountains and the air becomes significantly warmer. Soon afterwards we spot the first lights ahead of us and we know we have arrived at our destination for the day. The pickup truck drops us off in front of a guest house in Nam Noen. A truck for Sam Neua is just ready to depart, looks like it is connecting with ours. Sarah and Susanne jump on it and we wish them happy journey. The rest of us have to spend the night in this village. One of the Lao men who travelled with us assures us that there will be a bus or a truck to Phonsavan tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock. He is going there too so we assume he knows what he is talking. We take two rooms, I share with Stefan and Margot with Bianca. We leave our luggage in the rooms and go out in search of food. It is rather late and all restaurants have already closed. We indicate to the lady of the guest house that we are hungry, she nods understandingly and motions us to go with her. We follow her about 100m down the street where she unlocks a large room containing a kitchen and two large tables. She points to one of the tables which contains a large quantity of home made noodles, and we know immediately what is on the menu tonight - noodle soup. We complement the noodle soups with a few bottles of Beer Lao. What was going to be a quick snack extends into a prolonged dinner, we talk about today's adventures and excitedly guess what tomorrow will bring. Stefan then takes over and describes in lengthy detail his past experiences. An hour later he is still talking, mostly to Bianca who shares his smoking habit, Margot and I are tired and go back to the guest house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2002 Report Share Posted July 23, 2002 >Time and patience are two things that are required in large quantities in Laos That should be posted at the border Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotover Posted July 23, 2002 Report Share Posted July 23, 2002 Great travel story. Makes me want to try a trip like this, but don't have the time now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 Hey, I'm just getting on to this. It's great! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted May 1, 2003 Report Share Posted May 1, 2003 great stuff - better go read the other parts also - if I have the time & patience :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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