After trekking ourselves out in Northern Laos, we sat on the side of the road in the VERY small town of Ban Don Chai waiting for a bus that never came. After a good 30 minutes passed from when the bus was supposed to come, we ended up hitching a ride with a man in a nice Toyota truck that was headed to where we needed to go. Our driver spoke no English whatsoever, but we ended up in his truck anyway with the help of one of the shop owners in the town. I felt pretty safe about it, until the sun was setting and our driver pulled over to the side of the road. My thoughts briefly went to, "Shit. And this is where we die." But that thought quickly dissipated when I realized he just had to pee.
We were dropped off at the local bus station where we cabbed to our guesthouse. We were in Luang Namtha, and were there for just one night. We flew out the following afternoon on the only airplane the Luang Namtha airport sees in a day. The propeller plane flies from Laos' capital of Vientiane and back, once a day. The airport's baggage x-ray was broken, so a small Laotian woman did a short, manual search of our bags. Our boarding passes were handwritten.
Once in Vientiane, we got a taxi to the bus station... but we didn't quite make it there. The driver knew we needed a bus to Vang Vieng, so when he saw one behind us on the main road, he waved it over to the side of the road and threw our stuff in the back and we got in. The bus had a couple dozen locals on board along with several packages of flooring tiles, stacked one upon another in the centre aisle and at our feet. After 15 minutes of driving, the bus made a quick stop to pick up some more packages and filled up the back of the bus. Then it stopped a second time, this time for longer, to fill the bus up with boxes containing motor oil. By the time they were finished, we had boxes surrounding us on all sides and up to the armrests in the aisle. Passengers had to crouch to climb on top of the boxes to get on and off the bus. This is what you get for a 4 hour bus ride that only costs $5.
By 8pm, we were in Vang Vieng and quickly came across our hotel and the girls we were meeting there. Vang Vieng is in central Laos and surrounded by some beautiful mountain scenery, but that's hardly why most people go there. VV is famous for its tubing on the river, but more famous for the drinking that is done at the riverside bars before you can even get your feet wet. I spent all of 45 seconds in the water the day we went "tubing". There we others who were daring (or rather, stupid) enough to go off the rope swings and into the fast river that varied quite drastically in depths and was lined with rocks. I was a bit too busy with my bucket of vodka/7up to bother trying.
The post-tubing day included a whole lot of nothing. It was a much needed day off after the week of adventures and the day of partying before. We visited one of VV's many TV bars; semi-outdoor restaurants that have several TVs playing non-stop episodes of "Friends" or "Family Guy," or in some cases, movies.
The following day, we headed back to Vientiane on a bus then flew to Hanoi, Vietnam in the afternoon. We arrived in Hanoi around 5pm and made our way to our hostel in the Old Quarter. It was Saturday night and the night market was buzzing just a couple blocks over. We meandered around a little after dinner. The streets in Hanoi are constantly packed full of motorcyclist and the sidewalks are impossible to walk down since half of them are used as parking stalls for the motorbikes. But we managed to make it through the night unscathed.
That was all we really saw of Hanoi. The next morning we headed out on a tour to Halong Bay, 3 hours east of Hanoi and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are over 3,000 islands in the bay and they make up a sea of domed, rocky islands. We spent the day and night on an elegant, dark-wood boat with about 40 other backpackers. We sailed around for the afternoon then went for a swim before hopping into kayaks. We kayaked to one of the islands and walked around inside a big cave. The cave was beautiful and a little creepy. But at one point, the guides made us crawl through a small opening into a completely dark area. We all turned on our flashlights at the same time and saw a glistening cave with formations hanging from the ceiling. I haven't a clue what any of the proper words are to describe what I saw, but it was really cool.
After a night on the boat and rainy morning heading back to the habour, we bused back to Hanoi only to get on another bus a short while later. This time, it was a sleeper bus. My bed was about 13 inches wide and about 3 inches too short for my height. I had a bed against the window, but my left side was being held in only by a small, short handle. Somehow I still managed to sleep quite well on the 14-hour overnight trip to Hue. Hue is just outside the DMZ (demilitarized zone) from when Vietnam was divided between north and south. We only spent the morning there as we hopped on another bus to Hoi An at 1pm.
Since arriving in Hoi An that evening, we've enjoyed our hotel's pool, the beach a mere 10 minute cycle away, and the more than 200 tailor shops in the town. This place has the world's largest concentration of tailors and I have already dropped an unmentionable sum on custom made clothing. We leave tomorrow evening which makes me a little sad because it is such a beautiful and low-key town. The food is incredible and the architecture is charming and elegant. We arrived on the night of a full moon and the town was lit with lanterns. But I am also relieved to be going since I don't know how much more my wallet can handle being here.
No comments:
Post a Comment