Extreme Rubber Ringing
WHY did we plan to go on the night bus (or ANY bus in actual fact?) that was the thing running through my mind when we set off from Tha Khek. We were on another disco bus. It was 11;30 pm, we were KNACKERED and there was an almighty storm raging outside.
Luckily by 12 they had turned off the noise, and we were able to spread out a little bit. Didnt make much difference to our ability to sleep - the bus was plummeting at high speed through the night, swerving and breaking violently through an all out storm. After 10 hours of night and movement, we arrived very worse for wear at our destination, Vientiane - the capital of Laos. From the instant we arrived, it was obvious we were in the capital - more people here to rip you off, and less kindness and friendlyness.
We bartered with a jumbo wallah for half an hour, and then jumped into his machine. We then had to wait another 45 minutes until he filled the rest of the jumbo up with other people. By this time I was in a strop. I was tired and ready to kill the man - we were paying over the odds for the whole vehicle, and he proceeded to make us wait to get to the hotel and make more money by filling up the machine with others. RAHHHHRGH!
I was then REALLY ready to poke his eyes out with a blunt stick when he dropped us of....AT THE WRONG PLACE!!!!! Luckily Nele was in less of a bad mood than me, and was able to pacify me a little. Also the tension was broken when we had to walk through a bit of roadworks, and Nele fell over in the mud - face down, in a white t-shirt, underneath her huge backpack. We burst out laughing, as it couldnt get any worse!!!
Mud splattered and shattered we ended up in a nice hostel and crashed into bed at about 7am....peace reigned.
At about 12noon we both woke up refreshed and decided to get the first bus OUT of Vientiene to our next destination - the extreme sport capital of Laos - Vang Vien.
This time, we caught a tourist bus - which had NO TV!!!! Amazing!!!! The journey was short and sweet -3 hours without any hitches at all. LOVELY. We arrived in VV and immediately checked into a beautiful little hostel. VV is a really beautiful town surrounded by a river valley and a very high mountain range - spectacular to look at.
Once again, a storm started and raged throughout the night - beautiful forks of lightening.
Next day we had booked the classic activity of VV -TUBING. This consists of floating in a rubber ring down the river surrounding the town. The course of the river ensures marvellous scenery and a very tranquil ride - except in high season when the river is known for being lined with bars serving beers to tossy tourists - so they gradually get more sloshed as they go down the river. Luckily for us, as its low season and high rainfall time, there was no-one there to hamper us. Us two and my waterproof bag were picked up by a tuk tuk and driven upriver 3km, where we were unceremoniously dumped by the rivers edge. Nele immediately started to look a bit white.....the river was RAGING...... Not the tranquil flow we were led to believe it was!! (Rainy season effect again!!) By the time we had turned around to question the driver, he had dissapeared into a cloud of dust....
SO, with no other action left open to us, we hopped into our rubber rings and jumped into the river! extreeeeeeeeme man!
After the initial fast section, the river widened and we slowed down to a veritable float, so we neednt have worried. Didnt stop Nele hanging on to me the whole journey though! ahhhhh!
We came to the end of the run, just as the river quickened up again, and we had to jump off our rings into rushing water - which wasnt so easy to deal with - but at least we made it out within half a mile of the proper stopping point!!
The journey itself was brilliant - tranquil, serene, and really spectacular scenery. Wonderful.
Next day we were on the move again. To the Northern Capital, and a World Heritage Site, Luang Prabang.
Luckily by 12 they had turned off the noise, and we were able to spread out a little bit. Didnt make much difference to our ability to sleep - the bus was plummeting at high speed through the night, swerving and breaking violently through an all out storm. After 10 hours of night and movement, we arrived very worse for wear at our destination, Vientiane - the capital of Laos. From the instant we arrived, it was obvious we were in the capital - more people here to rip you off, and less kindness and friendlyness.
We bartered with a jumbo wallah for half an hour, and then jumped into his machine. We then had to wait another 45 minutes until he filled the rest of the jumbo up with other people. By this time I was in a strop. I was tired and ready to kill the man - we were paying over the odds for the whole vehicle, and he proceeded to make us wait to get to the hotel and make more money by filling up the machine with others. RAHHHHRGH!
I was then REALLY ready to poke his eyes out with a blunt stick when he dropped us of....AT THE WRONG PLACE!!!!! Luckily Nele was in less of a bad mood than me, and was able to pacify me a little. Also the tension was broken when we had to walk through a bit of roadworks, and Nele fell over in the mud - face down, in a white t-shirt, underneath her huge backpack. We burst out laughing, as it couldnt get any worse!!!
Mud splattered and shattered we ended up in a nice hostel and crashed into bed at about 7am....peace reigned.
At about 12noon we both woke up refreshed and decided to get the first bus OUT of Vientiene to our next destination - the extreme sport capital of Laos - Vang Vien.
This time, we caught a tourist bus - which had NO TV!!!! Amazing!!!! The journey was short and sweet -3 hours without any hitches at all. LOVELY. We arrived in VV and immediately checked into a beautiful little hostel. VV is a really beautiful town surrounded by a river valley and a very high mountain range - spectacular to look at.
Once again, a storm started and raged throughout the night - beautiful forks of lightening.
Next day we had booked the classic activity of VV -TUBING. This consists of floating in a rubber ring down the river surrounding the town. The course of the river ensures marvellous scenery and a very tranquil ride - except in high season when the river is known for being lined with bars serving beers to tossy tourists - so they gradually get more sloshed as they go down the river. Luckily for us, as its low season and high rainfall time, there was no-one there to hamper us. Us two and my waterproof bag were picked up by a tuk tuk and driven upriver 3km, where we were unceremoniously dumped by the rivers edge. Nele immediately started to look a bit white.....the river was RAGING...... Not the tranquil flow we were led to believe it was!! (Rainy season effect again!!) By the time we had turned around to question the driver, he had dissapeared into a cloud of dust....
SO, with no other action left open to us, we hopped into our rubber rings and jumped into the river! extreeeeeeeeme man!
After the initial fast section, the river widened and we slowed down to a veritable float, so we neednt have worried. Didnt stop Nele hanging on to me the whole journey though! ahhhhh!
We came to the end of the run, just as the river quickened up again, and we had to jump off our rings into rushing water - which wasnt so easy to deal with - but at least we made it out within half a mile of the proper stopping point!!
The journey itself was brilliant - tranquil, serene, and really spectacular scenery. Wonderful.
Next day we were on the move again. To the Northern Capital, and a World Heritage Site, Luang Prabang.
posted by Abster at 6:26 am
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