Scariest day yet!

We got up early and a Tuk Tuk picked us up from our guesthouse at 7.10am to take us to the bus station. Our bus to Vientiane was at 8am and was supposedly VIP, but the bus looked quite old and beaten up on the outside.

I was hoping it would be okay on the inside but it was even worse, there seemed to be a layer of grime over everything on the bus, the antimacassars were filthy and you could barely see out of the windows because they were so dirty. There were also flies and mosquitoes everywhere and the air con hardly worked!

We were sat at the back, and as we pulled out of the bus station it was clear that the journey was not going to be fun, the bus bounced and swayed everywhere!

The whole journey was nearly 10 hours long and on one road - the windiest, most dangerous road I have ever seen. We spent so much time above and in the clouds with massive drops just next to us, swaying and bouncing on this old, old bus. I wanted to nap but it was impossible - imagine trying to sleep on Crush's Coaster those of you who have been on it, this bus was comparable to ten hours on that ride! A small Chinese man was sitting next to Vix, who had a small pretty handbag for some reason, and he seemed to be able to sleep so he kept falling onto her - even headbutting her a couple of times!

The old Lao lady in front of us start being sick soon into the journey, and then Vicky started to feel really sick. I felt really bad for them because I luckily never get motion sickness - or so I thought. About halfway through the journey I felt really ill and ended up being sick into a plastic bag! That's how bad it was! Vicky was sick when we reached Vientiane at 6pm ish as well. I felt lucky to have survived the journey!

At Vientiane we got in an open air truck and got taken from the Northern Bus Station to the Southern Bus Station to catch another 20 hour bus to Hué in Vietnam, although none of us felt like it. Luckily all of the buses seemed like the nicer coach we first got from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We were led to our bus to buy our ticket - it was the only old rickety local bus in the station! We got on and there were only two Lao men on board, who asked if we were married, so we immediately had our guard up. Vicky and Vix moved their rings to their wedding fingers but I don't have a ring! Eventually the bus filled up with all men and only one or two women, as well as loads of boxes and small trees (they like transporting trees), and even a chicken, and we set off. This is the first time we have been anywhere without any other Westerners or travellers being around, and I am quite scared. We have just been stopped for about half an hour in the middle of nowhere, 3 hours from Vientiane, whilst a man tried to fix the bus with a spanner. There is also terrible, loud, Asian techno music playing which the driver seems to think
is acceptable for 11pm on a public bus. This is the most vulnerable I have felt on the whole trip - I'm scared of the people all speaking an incomprehensible foreign language, and the bus breaking down or crashing, or being set alight by one of the smokers, or just falling apart because it is so old and badly maintained. Luckily the roads are straight and we aren't near any mountains. I just can't wait to get to Vietnam where we can start using trains for the first time!

I will update you when we get there!

xxx