Day 22
We are lying on the bed having set the alarm a little to early.... We are packed and ready to leave but have an hour and a half to go.....
We head out for a relaxed breakfast in one of the French restaurants and flick through a booklet about Luang Prabang. Within the book we notice a temple at the other end of town that's described as being the most beautiful temple in Laos so after breakfast we jump in a TukTuk and go... Having only 40 mins until our transfer collection time we are a little tight on time to be going off exploring but we don't think its far do hope for the best.... Our TukTuk must if been specially made for the Laos people..... It has the capability to go faster but our driver somehow manages to get into top gear whilst only just getting above walking speed.... Its ridiculous.... We both could of run faster 100%
I think the reason for our slow speed was to increase the journey time a little to justify the cost, we only travelled around 600 meters before it rolled to a stop and we were outside the temple.
After a quick look around a lavishly decorated, largely empty multiple building temple complex which housed a Buddha which had cleverly been mounted onto a truck chassis, complete with operational wheels we were back in the same TukTuk going at a snails pace back towards the Main Street.
We check out of our guest house bang on 09.30 and wait outside, soaking up the sun. It's not long before 9.30 becomes 10, and 10 becomes 10.30...... After repeated checks with the guest house staff a pickup taxi arrives for us, full of appologie... We had been forgotten....
We get taken to the main bus station and are pointed towards a very tired looking people carrier with a large tarpaulin on the roof that's getting untied... It looks like a locals vehicle, covered in dents that have been there years with virious bits missing...
This heap is our coach substitute for the next 6 hr journey. We climb in after passing our bags to the guy standing on the roof who tries in vain to make our bags at least appear secure under the tarpaulin that's now way to small to cover everything
And take our seats... The people carrier is almost full of people and we are not sure if the others have also been forgotten too..
Once on our way it's clear it's going to be a long trip... The vehicles done many miles, but will go on forever driven at this rate... In the whole six hour trip up and down mountainous roads from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng the engine does not exceed 1800 rpm once, and getting to this speed was a very rare occasion... Most of the time is spent between 500 and 1300 rpm.. It's painfully painfully slow.. Google maps plots this journey as 2hrs 30 mins and covers 115 miles.... Only in Laos can it take so long.....
The journey is done with a laminated card in the front window advertising the journey to people on the way and it's not long before the cars filled up with locals.... Locals carry some strange things it would appear.... I get a large bag of leaves dumped pretty much on my lap by an elderly Laos women when she gets in and sits next to me... Her other luggage went on the roof and could be heard tweeting away the entire way... We later find out when she gets out half way along our journey that there small, emaciated looking young pheasant things and if there still alive by the time you read this I'd be surprised.... Misery over I'd say.
The landscape has changed for Laos... It's very mountainous and this road is your typical mountain road.... Not one part of it is flat, or straight, or pothole free and its a long long way down.... But you don't need worry about the fall... If the driver ever lost control the two inch curb would probably save you......
Having unprotected sides does allow a good view though and a good view it certainly is..... Panoramic mountain scenery all along the roadside reminds you how remote and unforgiving an environment some people live in... There are numerous road side settlement, and they all have a similar theme... There very poor, very dusty and almost always perched directly on the side of the mountain. There build on concrete stilted platforms with only the front wall of the building actually on earth... Right next to the road, and as the building goes back onto its level stilted base the back of the building can easily be 40ft above an ever decreasing mountainside.
The building itself is very flimsy, made entirely on wood... They have wicker outer walls, one layer think and dried leaf roofs.... Is looks very much like an existence... All whilst perched on a very high, very steep mountain side... One vehicle crashes into your home and the whole lot looks like it would go over the edge.... They do appear to have running water, this would consist of one outside tap in the end of a reenforced piece of plastic pipe... This is outside and usually down hill of the settlement.... We notice as we pass many women showering at these points taking advantage of the middays heat... They effectively shower by the road side and have to try cover themselves with a towel whilst doing this as trucks and coaches pass right by...
We arrive in Vang Vieng in the evening and the hotel is nice...
We wonder around trying to familiarise ourselves in preparation for tomorrow before grabbing some food and calling it a night.