There was no chicken on the bus this time but the 25 inch TV boosted to the roof was followed by a refrigerator. Once all of the bus seats filled up the plastic stools came out and lined the aisle. This time the victim of motion sickness was across the aisle and not in front of me. I also managed to avoid the Betel Nut chewing grandma. The 200+ kilometer bus ticket cost $7.
Was I impressed, when the 11:00 bus left the station at 10:59. We drove a block, stopped and were swamped by food sellers. Fifteen minutes later we were underway again. It's been said that one does not live by bread alone but I'll tell you those two, 12 inch Baguettes (fifty cents) saved my life on the five hour trip. Thanks, France, for bequeathing Baguettes to Laos. About 2 miles down the road we stopped again...this time for fuel...and then we were off.
About two hours into the trip the bus pulled to the side of the road for a pee and smoke stop. Who needs a rest area? The road was good. At 4pm we rolled into the bus stop near Tha Khek.
Hot and tired I was ready to freshen up a bit when I got to my room and the power went off. Thinking I'd make use of the time, I found the local inter net cafe where, of course there was no power either. After a nice 10 min chat with a chap from Poland the power returned. This e-mail cafe makes my tractor garage look like something out of Martha Stewart!
There are many signs of development along the road, inc. the beginnings of a golf course near Vientiane, new houses , etc. There is also much reforestation being done. The road parallels the east bank of the Mekong, sometimes near and others far from the river. Bougainvillea is in bloom. I saw many more goats today than I remember from before.
I'm staying in the same guest house I did last time. It fronts on the river and is the former French Police Station. It's either gone down hill in five years or my standards have gone up. Probably a bit of both. Nakon Phnom, Thailand, is the city across the rive where I went last time to do e-mail and Laos would not readmit me.
Dinner time!
1 comment:
Hey Dad
Were they playing videos on the bus? When I took that same type of bus in Cambodia last year, they were playing very funny Cambodian music videos -- trying to copy rap, hip-hop videos from the states but not really succeeding -- it was still very Cambodian.
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