Sometimes traveling takes a lot of traveling. Today was one of those days. We headed out and took a tuk-tuk (three wheeled motorcycle/cart contraption which serves as the main taxi vehicle in Laos) to the bus station. We quickly grabbed seats on the next bus. And that’s how we spent the next nine hours. It wasn’t the most pleasant journey, but long distance travel is becoming almost secondhand, so it went fairly quickly. The worst part of it was my seat mate, an oversized Lao woman who didn’t give me anything close to my fair share of the seat. But, later she offered me some fruit and corn on the cob, so I can’t say too many bad things about her. One of the more interesting pa
rts of the ride (aside from the bathroom breaks literally ‘in the bushes’-men and women both) was the food vending process. Food vendors would simply load the already crowded bus at the stops, hawk their goods, and then disembark just as we left. It sure did make buying drinks and snacks easier. By the by, we made it to Viang Chan just fine and on the low side of the 8-11 hour guidebook range, albeit a bit sweaty (there was no AC, who am I kidding). A quick tuk-tuk ride into town with two Canadians who were on the bus and we were set. The bus ride allowed me to see a lot of Laos, as we covered about a third of the country. Almost ¾ of the country lives on $2-$3 a day and it was apparent by the thatched roof shacks and dirt roads that dominated the countryside. Its infrastructure also leaves much to be desired, as we were on Route 13, the supposed best highway in Laos, which wasn’t much better than a run down country road in rural Iowa. Most of our traveling in Vietnam was near the shore, and thus the land was fairly moist and fertile. But much of the land in Laos (and we were even
close to the Mekong River) was fairly dry. It seemed to be used mostly for cattle, goat, chicken, and water buffalo grazing. I would often see people around drinking beer or eating, and the children playing football or some odd form of volleyball using a futsal ball. I don’t know if the Lao people we passed in the countryside were happy, but they all seemed very relaxed. In another difference from travel in the States (or at least the last 50 years) was that there were at least three times when the driver honked, swerved, or stopped to allow cattle to cross the road. Once again, this is the busiest/best-developed highway in the country.
rts of the ride (aside from the bathroom breaks literally ‘in the bushes’-men and women both) was the food vending process. Food vendors would simply load the already crowded bus at the stops, hawk their goods, and then disembark just as we left. It sure did make buying drinks and snacks easier. By the by, we made it to Viang Chan just fine and on the low side of the 8-11 hour guidebook range, albeit a bit sweaty (there was no AC, who am I kidding). A quick tuk-tuk ride into town with two Canadians who were on the bus and we were set. The bus ride allowed me to see a lot of Laos, as we covered about a third of the country. Almost ¾ of the country lives on $2-$3 a day and it was apparent by the thatched roof shacks and dirt roads that dominated the countryside. Its infrastructure also leaves much to be desired, as we were on Route 13, the supposed best highway in Laos, which wasn’t much better than a run down country road in rural Iowa. Most of our traveling in Vietnam was near the shore, and thus the land was fairly moist and fertile. But much of the land in Laos (and we were even 
close to the Mekong River) was fairly dry. It seemed to be used mostly for cattle, goat, chicken, and water buffalo grazing. I would often see people around drinking beer or eating, and the children playing football or some odd form of volleyball using a futsal ball. I don’t know if the Lao people we passed in the countryside were happy, but they all seemed very relaxed. In another difference from travel in the States (or at least the last 50 years) was that there were at least three times when the driver honked, swerved, or stopped to allow cattle to cross the road. Once again, this is the busiest/best-developed highway in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment