Bus Rides & Bombies

That last post ended rather abruptly, eh? Well, that's kind of how it was in Luang Nam Tha as well. I'd bonded quite a bit with the people on the trek and we all went out together when we got back and again in the morning. Sensing that anything else in the area would be an anti-climax, I decided to follow Minna, Ben and Tash back south to Luang Prabang. They bought a ticket for me and we got a leisurely breakfast near the station. I was a little worried about seating but they told me the seats were assigned. I was rightfully skeptical. When we got to the bus about half an hour before it was to leave, everything was full except for a few broken seats in the back. The other three took "seats" and I arranged a few 50kg sacks of fertilizer, rice and sugar in the aisle. I had someone's boots behind me and a huge tractor engine in front. We took off quite late and about twenty people past capacity.

Most Asian bus drivers seem to be aspiring Gran Prix racers. Ours drove like a Gran. We slowly cruised down the mooncrater road at jogging pace while cars, motos, overladen trucks, bicycles, and quadriplegic sloths whizzed by on either side. Almost seven hours into what was supposed to be a nine hour trip, we finally crawled into the halfway-point stop. After purchasing sweets and what turned out to be raw pork in a banana leaf, we got back on the bus for the second half. This time, I flipped the sacks around, made a table, and played cards with my group and a random Israeli. As soon as we settled in to play though, our driver let loose his inner Andretti and started barrelling down the road at top speed. I don't usually get motion sickness, but going backwards while being bounced around like that in a stuffy airless bus wasn't a fun experience.

Luang Prabang was nothing special again, just a quiet night with a random Japanese guy who's name I could never remember and a relaxing day with Ben and Tash. I again hopped on the bus, this time to Vientienne. Again the bus was overcrowded, but this time I got the last real seat and -miracle of miracles- it was that glorious seat in the back middle with acres of legroom. On the downside, the "mutton" we ordered at lunch was beginning to give me some wicked stomach cramps. By the time we got to Vientienne at 4am, my stomach had lost the fight and I spent a vigorous hour in the highly questionable bus station men's room. Nothing of course is open at 4am in Vientienne. The few awake tuk-tuk drivers just laughed at me. Nothing opens until 7 or 8, and none of the guesthouses have rooms until people check out around 11. I spent a pathetic seven hours wandering around the city in an exhausted delirium before finding a place to crash.

After that nightmare, I've pretty much been taking it easy. I biked around and met a number of monks who insist on giving me tours of their temples so they can practice English. The national museum was pretty cool too with a long section on the imperialist French and Americans and their many weapons and puppet armies. One wall had an RPG launcher and a few grenades sitting on a shelf with a little laminated sign saying "Do not touch." Nothing to physically stop anyone from doing so, just the sign. Another had a line of rifles, each of which was supposedly used by some peasant hero to shoot down an American jet. Everywhere were piles of assault rifles and heavy machine guns. Another fun section was the short bit on UXOs in which they have a case filled with intact bomblets and mortar shells. Now, I'm really hoping all of these very intact looking objects are defused, but they certainly looked untouched and rusted shut.

As if I needed further reminding of all the wonderful things America has done for Laos, I found myself in a prosthetics workshop this afternoon. Zoo and I were tracking down a pair of crutches for a friend who had sprained his ankle. We finally got directed to a rehab clinic where we could buy some. Since all were adjusted for shorter people, a guy took us into the shop to re-fit them and we watched men molding and forging all sorts of prosthetic parts. It was an eerie place with limbs lying all around. I made a mental note to donate money for mine clearing when I get home.

And on that cheerful note, I'm going to have to leave it. We're staying here one more night and then Zoot and I will move on south to Savannaket, Champasak, and eventually Cambodia.