What the....?

Trip Start Dec 01, 2004
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Trip End Apr 08, 2005


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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Sunday, February 6, 2005

We thought the ride to Pakse would be on a bus. It turned out that the bus was actually the giant tuk-tuk thing we took from the Laos border to Don Det. Tobi and I were crammed in with about 10 other locals; a nursing baby, ducks, chickens and a bucket of live Mekong fish. We learned to sit as close to the front as possible, because in the very back, the road dust dances around leaving one filthy. The trip to Pakse only lasted 3 hours, most of it was on a nicely paved single lane highway - not bad.

We arrived at the bus station in Pakse at 10:30 am and found our bust to Savannakhet right away. This was a real bus and it wasn't leaving until 1:00. Having 2 1/2 hours to kill wasn't so bad, as the bus station was located at a big market. We put our bags on the bus and went to look around. I gorged myself with fish, chicken and chilli peppers then washed it down with delicious cafe Laos Riding in style with the locals
Riding in style with the locals
 . It took us 15 minutes to find the bathroom but it's free - if you can find it. At 11:30 we returned to the bus to check on our bags. Everything was fine. We walked across the road to a little restaurant where Tobi could fill up on noodle soup. I had a beer Laos (it had to be 4:30 pm somewhere in the world). We sat there watching the flurry of market activity, when all of a sudden we notice our bus, with our bags in the back window, roar out of the parking lot, down the road and out of sight.

I must admit I was a little worried about most of our worldly possessions driving off without us. I walked over to the empty spot where the bus used to sit parked. I asked another bus's crew where that bus went, "Savannakhet", was his response. Great. Our stuff was off to Savannakhet without us. Another guy walked over to me to try to tell me something about the bus, but I could hardly understand him. With just under an hour to go until the bus was supposed to leave, I walked back over to Tobi at the restaurant and had another beer for nerve-calming purposes. During that time, I came up with crazy plans to check Tobi into a hotel in Pakse while I chased down the bus on a rented motorcycle. Thankfully, at about 12:45 the nightmare ended as the bus came back from fueling up. We climbed aboard and were off to Savannakhet 5 min. later. Whew...

For a local bus with no A/C, it was my most comfortable bus ride on our whole trip! I sprawled myself over a bunch of hundred pound bags of rice and sugar, and slept most of the way. Every window was open and the breeze kept us cool the whole way.
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