My bus fare on this very nice double decker bus, which looks as though it will leave on time at 10:00am is the princely sum of 40,000 kip, which is around $6.00. I tried to book a ticket yesterday but everything was shut so this morning I thought I would just take the chance. There is another bus at 2:00 pm if I couldn't get on this one. My cab dropped me in the area where I believed the bus stop to be and I walked into the first travel agent I saw who told me that evrything was booked out today. Oh well I will go for a walk. Thats when I passed the travel agent that Michael had bought me to yesterday. So I gave them a try. The long and short of it is that I have a ticket on a bus that is nearly full, today. They collected me in a Mini van from the agency bought me round the block to the place where I had got out of the cab this morming and deposited me right next to the bus. Service.
I stayed awake for a bit of the trip, the scenery just beautiful; very green, beautiful homes and for a country that is supposed to be desperately poor there was little evidence of the poverty. The road was flat, basic but good and so it was a lovely ride. Eventually I decided to check out the inside of my eyelids and dozed off. I woke sensing somehting in my shoulder. It was the head of the young Laoboy sitting next to me. I figured it was harmless and every now and then he must have sensed that his head was bobbing and jerked it away, only for it to fall back, softly, a few minutes later.
Most fhe people on the bus were young backpackers. Vang Vieng is well known for its water sports, tubing, climbing and caving and attracts a backpacking population who come along for those reasons. When I originally thought of coming here I was put off for the exact same reason but I am told that it is not that bad now. We shall see.
We stop for a loo break. A young girl about 8, dressed in school uniform sits at a desk near the entrance to the loos and screams at each person entering "one tousand", collecting 1,000kip from each person that went in. The loos were pretty basic turkish porcelain enriched holes in the floor, but clean. So clean that all the surrounding area was swimming in soapy water as they had just been washed. So picture this! iPad in hand (I didnt want to leave it in my bag on the bus), handbag with nowhere to hang it, trousers where I had to hold the legs out of the water, loo paper. Two hands. If ever I needed to be a contortionist then this was it. Nothing was soaking by the time I got out so that was the main thing.
The bus continues, this time up some winding roads, and then the view changes. Before me peering out of the mist are huge greenery covered limestone mountains. So stunning. The weather had been overcast all day and now slightly foggy and the peaks peered out of the mist like eyes peering out from behind a veil. Just stunning.
Soon we arrive at Vang Vieng and I easily find my hotel, the Inthira, part of the Ban Sabai chain and advertised by the people that own Khop Chai Deu in Vientiane. It was chosen as it gives me access to a swimming pool at the Ban Sabai which I would have like to have stayed if I was not $$$ dependent.
I hadn't eaten and knew I needed to so set off in search of food, heading down towards the river. All along the section I ended up in were restaurants, built to take advantage of the sublime views, with low tables and floor level seating (much like turkish seating) where you sat with feet stretched under the table. Except at each one I passed they were full of, mainly backpackers but some locals as well, stretched out on the benches watching a soap on TV. I stopped at one place for about an hour while I had a small part of a rather stodgy horrible pancake and watched. No one moved. The backpackers had free lounging space and free wifi, the shop workers woke to take orders but the TV played the soaps.
Later I wandered around town just checking things out and deciding on where to have dinner. I stopped at a place with a great view, the Vanphaxay Restaurant, hoping to get some shots of the sunset but no visible sunset as it was too cloudy. While I sip on my nescafe, I am listening to the Beatles, the Who and others, gazing at the limstone mountains and watching the long boats go up and down. Far in the distance I can hear the gentle lull of a woman singing the most beautiful song. Haunting and eerie as the mist closes in over the mountains and surrounds the restaurant.
I watch a young kid, naked, hiding behind a sign as he had been swimming where the long boats come in and was kicked out of the way. The sign may have provided coverage for his front but his bum was shown off to everyone in the restaurants along the shore. Poor kid, I wonder if he knew that everyone was taking photos of his bare bum.
In front of me four asian guys order food and a bottle of scotch. Looks like it wont take them long to finish it off at the rate they are going.
I keep wandering and find myself in a tourist shop looking at local fabrics. I love them, but here there is another interest. They have a loom and look as though they weave their own fabric. Note to self. Come back tonorrow. I eventually end up back at the hotel. as I go to walk up the outside stairs the first few drops of rain start to fall. Drip, drip, drip.
So much for planning where I was going to eat. Not going anywhere further than the hotel restaurant, where I am now. The drips have turned to a constant stream of solid drops. For the first time since I left home there is something other than oppresive heat in the air. I love it. The restaurant is filling up. Seem like all the other patrons have the same idea.
They bring me my beer lao, my lemon grass and chilli cashews, freshly fried and yes, you guessed it. I copped the chilli first mouthful. Thank goodness for the beer Lao. The burning subsides and I get to try the BBQ Pork on lemon grass skewers. Oh yes! So good. The cashews aren't too bad either.
Guess I am not going for my banana roti as I had planned. I watch the people cycling past holding an umbrella. Rain does funny things to what would normally be ordinary things. Cyclists with umbrellas - hilarious.
Returning to my room I switch on the telly to hear some noise as it was so quiet once the rain had stopped, I respond to a few emails and then the eyes start to close. And then it started. I think someone is determined that I will never get a good nights sleep, because not only is there stupid music coming from along the street frontage but I'm getting it from the rear section too. Give me a break guys. If it is not noise at night it is some annoying person (or roosters) waking me up early. Go away all of you or shut up.
No comments:
Post a Comment