Blogging about Laos surfaced another memory about that trip. Travel to Luang Prabang, Laos was by air. Departure was by bus. The guidebook recommended purchasing a bus ticket on the VIP bus. That sounded good but I don't know what the travel writer was smoking. Only in one's imagination was there a VIP bus on that route, which I took to Vientienne.
A tuk-tuk delivered me from the guesthouse to the bus depot. A ticket on the only bus secured I clambered aboard. The bus looked ancient and air conditioning was via open windows. Away we went with nary an empty seat. Careening abound the turns on the mountain road we motored south to the capital city.
Perhaps forty five minutes into the trip the bus sputtered to a stop, clearly not planned. The bus's engine was below the floor between the driver and the front door, an area piled high with luggage. Out went the luggage and off came the cover over the engine. The driver and another crew member went to work on the engine with much pounding and pulling. Eventually it restarted, baggage reloaded and it ran until we reached our destination.
An hour and a half later the bus pulled to the side of the road while the engine was clearly running. All the passengers disembarked, me included, to use the toilet facilities, which was the road ditch. Necessities met off we went again.
The road was good and at wide clearings beside the road villages clustered. They were there to avoid the unexploded ordinance that infects Laos. In America's seven year undeclared war on Laos more bombs were dropped than on Germany in WW II. Laos is about the size of Minnesota.
Takk for alt,
Al
PS Another bus story; While riding in bus in Thailand, seated by an open window, I heard a rooster crow so near I though we must have almost run over it. A hundred yards later it crowed again. Looking behind me I saw a rooster tied to a bus seat.
No comments:
Post a Comment