myrainasia

For those who were worried I managed to get out of Vientiane and arrived safely in Tha Khaek.  Even though I still owe an update on Vientiane, I had to write about the bus trip before I forget.

First of all, I learned that my absolute bottom line maximum for a hot sweaty bus trip is now 6 hours.  The time it took to get from Vientiane to Tha Khaek on the public bus.

Arrived at the Vientiane bus station at around 10:30 this morning.  The Vientiane bus station is nowhere near the actual downtown of Vientiane.  Grabbed a tuk tuk and arrived about 30 minutes later.  However, this tuk tuk driver actually had a schedule for fares- first I’ve seen- so it was one of my cheaper rides (cheap being a relative term since nothing costs more than about $5 max).

The driver landed me right by the bus going to Tha Khaek but I went to the window because I thought I needed to buy a ticket- I didn’t. Then I went back to the bus where people were milling about and the guy who appeared to be in charge told me to wait.  By the time I decided to stop waiting it turned out that the only seats left were the small plastic stools that would line the center of the bus.  Not interested in sitting on a plastic stool for 6 hours.  Tried to figure out if there would be another bus (the schedule said every hour until noon) and the best answer I could get was “maybe”.

By this time the stool aisle was full and the bus was now going into standing room only.  This is approximately where the “maybe” turned into “no more buses to Tha Khaek”.  I refused to panic or to pull one of my NY hissy fits. (If no one understands what you are screaming you look more like a madwoman than otherwise.)  Instead I went over to the table where they seemed to be selling the tickets that I had been told one didn’t need and started pointing at the other buses and asking where they were going.  One was heading to Pakse- a ride of about 12 hours on the VIP bus and about 17 hours on the public bus.  However, Tha Khaek is on the way and there is only 1 road so I asked if it stopped in Tha Khaek.  First told it did not.  This answer did not satisfy my highly logical NY lawyer mind.  I perservered.  Turned out that they only sell tickets for this bus for Vientiane to Pakse.  Now it hit me that this was a financial issue.  Time to play wealthy American.  Offered to pay the full price to Pakse (about $10) if they would let me off if Tha Khaek (a $7 ticket).  Done deal. 

It was now 11 am and the bus was close to full.  I went to smoke a cigarette and the driver sent me onto the bus to put something on a seat.  Brilliant move.  I spent the next hour watching all the seats fill up, then out came the plastic seats, and then the standing room started.  Turns out that the bus schedules are very loose and take off time depends on when you think you cannot squeeze on one additional passenger.

We started around 11:30.  And kept picking up passengers- kind of like putting clowns in a little car at the circus.  The bus was an unairconditioned airconditioned bus.  A puff of moderately cool air came from the vents but not enough to do anything so all windows were open.  And most people had their jackets or sweaters on.  And I was the only one who was drowning in my own sweat.  Status quo.

After stopping for gas, and food supplies (loads of vendors at the windows and hopping onto the bus), and more passengers, we actually hit the road.  The driver hit the horn every 3 or 4 seconds and never for just one beep.  We watched Thai television the entire time- either singers or this comedy act. I don’t know if it was videos of 1 popular show, but I am now fully familiar with that cast of characters- no need to really understand Thai.

First stop was about 2 1/2 hours on.  (For those who don’t like toilet stories, skip ahead here.)  The stop was in the middle of nowhere but there were large trees and much foliage on both sides of the road.  Amusement from all of my bus neighbors at my look of puzzlement as to why we were stopping.  Still happy to have an excuse to get off the bus and have a smoke.  Decided I could hold it in.  Then realized when in Rome was a much better plan.  Followed the smart ladies who decided the other side of the road was more private.  Unfortunately, don’t wear the long Lao skirt which makes a much better privacy cover.  Figured it all out nonetheless.

Tried speaking to the woman sitting next to me who didn’t know a word of English and was not overly sharp at charades.  She didn’t get the universal I point to myself and say “Myra” and then point to her and look questioningly.  So we gave that up.  We did share food and friendly looks.  I offered my cookies to all of people near me and my neighbor was the only one sharing.  As the hours wore on, it got to be a joke- I would offer everyone and then make a show of how no one wanted my food.  By the time I got off, everyone took some Certs or gum with a lot of smiles and laughter.

The ride was long and hot and not something I want to do every day.  But I loved doing it.  There is a perverse streak in me that says do exactly the opposite of the other tourists.  It may turn out to be a misery, but it will turn out to be an experience.

Did I mention that I am charmed by the people here? I am.  Still loving this country.

I will try and get back to the story of Vientiane from Savannakhet, the next stop. Hope you can wait. 

So much to tell; so little inclination to actually write.  First off, it’s hot as hell in Laos right now.  My best guess would be mid to high 90s daily.  When I planned this trip I was thinking how nice it would be to skip winter in NY and travel in an “endless summer”.  This was NOT what I had in mind.  I was thinking low to mid 80s.  I take 3 showers a day and still manage to melt through everything.  I won’t consider a room that doesn’t have A/C and I’m at the point where I don’t even want to go into a restaurant if there is no A/C.  But I watch the Lao people around me in their jackets and wonder if this is some genetic thing or just conditioning.  It’s been so hot even the Laos are saying it’s hot.  But they don’t look hot whereas I (and all the other westerners) have sweat visibly poring out of every pore.

The heat has a big impact on travel.  If I do 1 planned tourist sight a day right now I feel very proud of myself and think I have earned the right to run back to my hotel, peel off my dripping clothes and hop in the pool (which feels like a bathtub).   I am also highly conflicted about where to go tomorrow although I’m quite sure I have spent enough time in Vientiane (which is a comfortable and charming city but not exactly chockablock with big tourist sights and small enough to know well in about 2 days- I have been here 4).  I want to go south to Savannahket, but this town is about 10 hours away by public bus (public bus means no A/C and generally significantly overcrowded) and my maximum for public buses is about 3 hours.  I could take the VIP bus (A/C, toilet, fewer stops and no overcrowding) that goes to Pakse.  This is a sleeper bus that leaves at 8:30 pm.  I could jump off in Savannakhet at 1:30 am, but no one can tell me if there are any tuk tuks to meet this bus and the thought of being alone in the bus station at 1:30 am makes this a non-starter.  So I am contemplating taking the public bus to Ta Khaek which  is about half way to Savannakhet and means only 6 hours in a public bus.  Now here’s where it really gets interesting- the Lao New Year- Pii Mi- is a 3 day holiday which starts Monday, which means it’s actually a 5 day holiday if you count the weekend, which means everybody and their brother may be heading home for the holidays, which means my public bus may be beyond overcrowded- if I can actually get on one.  Thus my dilemma.

But I digress because I really meant to talk about Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng is this little town nestled in the most magnificent setting of limestone cliffs on the river.  There is absolutely nothing of interest in the town.  However, some brilliant marketing mind figured out how to utilize the river to best attract the dumbass tourists.  The answer was tubing combined with a lot of drinking (plus whatever other intoxicant you might fancy).  You rent an inner tube and a waterproof pack for your stuff.  You can also rent a life jacket (I saw 1 person wearing one).  Then they pack 10 of you into a tuk tuk and transport you up the river to the starting point wherein you wade over to the river, plop into your tube and take off.  The first bar is about a 5 minute float from the starting point.

I should mention that I was going to pass on tubing.  Then I got friendly with Dan and Lou who I met on the 2 day boat trip to Luang Prabang (half the people I met on that boat trip were also in Vang Vieng).  They went tubing and Lou assured me there was nothing dangerous about it (except for some assinine things people did when trashed beyond recognition and reason).  Since I trusted Dan and Lou and they made it sound like so much fun I hiked over to the tour company where I had signed up for a 1 day tour to the caves (Vang Vieng is also known for the caves in the surrounding hills) and a few villages, and said I would do their tour the day after because I was going tubing.  Then Dan got food poisoning or some other ailment (and lay in bed dying for a day while Lou played nursemaid) and I ended up doing not much of anything the next day.  But Lou and I went out for a great dinner that night. (Dan got crackers.)

The next day I took my tour which was a lot of fun.  Met Anna and John from Australia.  There was one other guy but he was a bit unsocial- spoke only to our guide, Boun.  First we went to the caves.  Let’s just say that no tour company in the US (or any other western country) could take a tour group through caves in this condition.  Nobody could ever get liability insurance for this! (Trust me, I know these things.) Just getting into the caves we climbed up rocks, boulders, ladders places at weird angles consisting of a few boards nailed together with no place to put your hands, with Boun giving instructions like “Put your right hand here and your left foot there” (which would have been okay were I only 3 or 4 inches taller).  Thank God for Anna and the fact that we were a small group.  She helped pull up the rear and the others had no choice but to wait (as opposed to my adventure tour in Australia).  Plus, while Boun never actually offered me a hand when I stood in 1 spot refusing to move, he did in fact give me his hand when I asked.  So I made it. 

The first 2 caves had lots of interesting stalactites and stalagmites and were beautiful.  The third cave, however, was the most fun.  The river runs through it and you have to tube in.  The water was deliciously cold, there were ropes to hoist to get through the beginning part and the whole experience was quite serene.  So now, I was really ready for the tubing experience.

By the next day Dan was ready to rejoin the world of the living (and Lou was ready to do anything besides sitting around and hanging out)  and both were still willing to have me tag along, so off we went. 

To properly understand this experience, I really do recommend you to my photos.  But I will try to explain in words.  We stopped at the first bar (and 4 or 5 others).  As it was only about noon and there were many miles and many bars to go, I started with a diet Coke.  I picked up the pace on the subsequent bars but the bucket of who remembers what made me incapable of getting in or out of the tube without difficulty so that was the end of the alcohol for me.  Of course I was the fuddy duddy.  Everyone else was getting plastered.

In addition to the drinking (and “special menus”) each bar gave out free shots of Lao whisky or some other beverage.  Each bar had food available.  But the main draw is that each bar had some sort of activity- mostly rope swings. (Again, utterly uninsurable.)  You climbed up to this deck and either jumped down or swung out along the rope until the point where you were supposed to let go and jump into the river (at some of the bars this point was crucial since a jump too soon or too late might land you on rocks instead of in the river).  While everyone I saw landed safely, some did not land all that comfortably- you can imagine that a belly flop from that height could be mighty unpleasant and many people had the bruises to prove it.  Nonetheless, it looked like great fun.  Even Lou, who had said she wasn’t going to do this, took a few swings.  I will confirm here what most of you have already suspected- I skipped the rope swings.

There were a few more amusing stories of the day, like how I rubbed a good portion of skin off my arms trying to paddle my tube back to town (I am too short to get any real arm action going on an inflated inner tube and mostly ended up using my hands as paddles), how I was rescued near the end by some 13 year old kid (my guess) who swam and walked me back to town near the end (and then demanded his money), and how I had to cross the rickety little bridge from the point where we reached land (hark back to my fear of bridges).  Actually, I discovered that bridges aren’t that bad at night because I can’t see down below so I’m less scared. But those are the high points.

Next post- Vientiane.  Don’t know where I’ll be posting from, so stay tuned.

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