Essential experience my %*#!!

So, as we mentioned in our last post...trying to romanticize a hot, stinky, 9-10 hour bus ride on an old Chinese bus that breaks down 6 times en route to your destination (which is only 250km away) and has half a dozen people puking their guts out is simply delusional!

Bus rides in Laos are something of a right of passage, and much has been said and written about "Laos time". Basically it is said that no matter what happens en route, you will get there eventually, it just wont be when you thought it would be, but that this is one of the essential experiences of travelling here.

The only way to get from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang is via bus or minibus, and having already had bad experiences on minisbuses over long distances, we opted for the VIP "air conditioned" bus. Departing Vang Vieng one hour late due to the driver trying to fix the stereo so he could listen to Chinese pop tunes, things were not looking good. And they only got worse.

Two hours into our "6" hour drive, we stopped for lunch...for 1 hour! Overkill much. Then the breakdowns started...first the brakes, then the transmission, then 3d gear seemed to be gone, then the brakes. All the while poeple were getting on and off the bus, and it was heating up like an oven, the ac spewing out heat like an electric heater. During one breakdown somebody saw smoke and yelled fire and all hell broke loose! Luckily it was just the brakes smoking again.

After two more breakdowns in the dark where even the driver was getting angry we finally made it to Luang Prabang, almost ten hours after leaving! We are no stranger to bus rides, having been on 15-20 hour epics in Latin America, but this was the worst ever. A right of passage maybe, but one passage was enough for us!