Nightmare Bus

After hearing tales of long, crowded and sketchy bus rides from Laos to Vietnam, we opted to purchase planes tickets for the last leg of our trip to Hanoi from Luang Prabang, Laos. In the end, we still got a taste of these "nightmare experiences".

The night before we left we booked a small mini-bus out of Luang Namtha to Luang Prabang, this option was more expensive than the public bus and was advertised as being 2 hours shorter. However, when our taxi driver dropped us at the bus station 10minutes outside of town he tried to purchase our mini-bus tickets from the ticket window, only to find it was sold out. They were supposed to be reserved, but in a place like this things tend to not work out like they should. We could have gone all the way back to town and demanded our money back from the travel agency, but we wanted to get going so we purchased the public bus tickets, got some money back and hoped for the best. Our journey was now slated for 8 hours. The public bus was old, probably from the 70's or 80's, windows were stuck open, the interior was cramped, but the tires looked sturdy. Something you need to consider when most of the roads are a patchwork of dirt, rock and asphalt. We boarded and actually got to have our bags kept in the back, not far from us and there was still quite a few empty seats. Within 10 minutes this all changed. The bus driver and two helpers stopped along the road for nearly anyone flagging them down and soon the bus was jammed. There was luggage everywhere, massive bags of rice, fresh produce, and lots and lots of people, we were the lucky ones who got to actually sit on seats! The bus helpers were constantly moving up and down the cramped walkway and even climbing out onto the roof to stash more luggage up top while the bus was tearing down the highway. The highway was probably only a lane and a half wide at the most, so calling it a highway is a stretch, but one of the only true roads in the north.

Passengers were squawking on phones, throwing up, eating and spitting onto the floor, throwing garbage out the window, trying to steal your seats. It was a scene. The driver took to the road like it was the Indy 500, making passes left and right, narrowly missing other cars and trucks. On one occasion we came around the corner and he had to slam on the breaks sending us sliding and tipping slightly before coming to a stop feet from a jammed road of logging trucks. The road trip surpassed 8hours and we were still far from our destination. Darkness came and luckily so did better road conditions, so we were able to finish the rest of the drive in 2 additional hours. I can't imagine doing that everyday, but that thought gave me some confidence in the driver, he must be really good by now.

Although 10 hours on this circus bus was not the best way to spend a day, we made it alive and took in some great country along the way. The landscape of Laos conjures up scenery shots from Vietnam war movies with hillsides containing a mosaic of rice fields and jungle, thatched bamboo huts and women and children out playing or working around the streets. There are some grand mountain ranges jutting out in the distances and I have a feeling the region looks the same as it did during the Vietnam war, but with motorized scooter bikes and power lines now thrown in.

Our destination, Luang Prabang, is a world heritage site, and even referred to as one of the jewel's of the orient. It is probably one of, if not the most pleasant city we have come across on our travels. Quiet, yet full of tourists, it has loads of great Asian and European cafes, classy hotels and guesthouses, friendly people and plenty to do. It sits on a peninsula between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers and definitely has an "old world" European holiday feel to it. Quite the oasis for now.

Laos Photos