Onward

A multi vehicle journey to my next destination Vientienne, the capital of Laos. I head over to the beach for a tiny boat to the mainland where a big mini van is waiting to take me along with eight others to Pakse where I will await my night bus to Vientienne. It's a long journey, about 17 hours, including the layover in Pakse.

I remember Pakse from my first entry into Laos. I remember that there wasn't much to do so why not just blow right through. I actually am really more interested in making it to the next town beyond Vientienne, Vang Vieng which should have lots of activities and people to hang out with. But the plan is to spend a night in Vientienne and see the sights there first.

While waiting for the bus there, however, I meet Terry, a French Canadian from Quebec. He assures me while riding the bus that the "sights" in Vientienne are not very exciting, there is not much to do, and that I might consider pushing straight on through to Vang Vieng. I can't make up my mind, so I do the only logical thing. Sleep on it.

As is usual on overnight "VIP" busses, you tend to be awoken by the bus lights suddenly coming on at 6am, and in this case some loud Lao music videos coming suddenly onto all the TV screens. They pass out some wet wipes and, bam, we're here! Everyone off!

Presented with the usual shouts from taxi drivers of "Where you go! Where you go!?". I must decide: Where I go?

Realizing that I have somewhere around three weeks left in my Asia trip, I decide that luke warm sights are maybe not worth one of those precious days, so I follow Terry onto a sawngthaw to the Northern Bus Station to see about a marathon morning bus to Vang Vieng, about another two to three hours ahead.

The VIP bus for the morning is sold out, so we buy 7:30 am tickets on the public bus.

I'm not too sure about these public buses. Not sure how public they are that is. There was talk that they are actually privately owned by families who get the routes and then do their best to fill the busses. I learned this along the way, of course. I foolishly thought the bus would just take us to Vang Vieng. When really what it does is slow down like the ice cream man anywhere the driver (and co-pilot) thinks there might be someone who wants a ride. And then beeps its horn. Over and over and over. This turns a two hour ride into potentially a six to eight hour ride.

Luckily, our drivers spot another "public" bus that passes us, beeps his horn and laughs. This was our lucky break. Since the driver in front is likely to get all the potential pick-ups along the way, our pilots crack open two Red Bulls, and put the pedal to the metal in an attempt to re-take the lead.

We're in Vang Vieng in no time flat..... only about 24 hours after I left the beach in Don Det.