we both recounted our best and worst moments of this adventure. we thought you might like to
share in those experiences. (warning: do not attempt to re-enact these incidents at home or
without parental supervision).
our worst moment: though this might not be considered our absolute worst moment,
it was definitely one of our most challenging...
journal entry: september 16th: vientiane, laos
'...we rose at 4:30 and by 5am, we were out the door and walking in the pitch black towards the
bus station. thankfully, it was only a 5 or 10 minute jaunt because in the dark, down the
dirt streets was a bit sketchy. the station was already brimming with locals and i was a bit
suspicious about all the fat, blue, plastic bags piling up near the bus that had just pulled in. it
had crossed my mine to wait 20 minutes for the next bus but when i verbalized it, mark said, "we
got up this early, we're getting on this bus!"
little did we know that such a decision might have been unwise. our bags were heaved on top of the
roof and we snaked down the narrow aisle with our "carry-on" items that, since luang prabang
had grown to four instead of two. since our last bus experience, we considered ourselves
enlightened and so we hogged two rows. at the same time, we noticed that those blue bags had been shoved
under every seat on the bus. women were frantically passing them through the windows and down the
aisle, cramming them in every nook of the bus. fortunately for us, the vehicle smelled fresh -
these bags were stuffed full of bundles of every kind of vegetable one could imagine. cilantro
scents overpowered anything else so we couldn't complain - until the roof seemed piled so hight
with the locals' belongings that i wasn't sure how we'd move! but at 5:30 sharp, our bus,
bursting at the seams with blue bags and green edibles, pulled away in the dark. all i cared about was
that i had my own, full seat, mark had his and we were only in for a three and a half hour ride.
that all changed much too quickly. we hadn't traveled more than 200 yards and the bus stopped along
the roadside. through the windows, we saw more bags being hoisted over head and another group of
chatty women got on with more plastic, blue bags. we laughed an mused at how this group must have
been too lazy to make it to the station. we pulled onto the road again. a couple hundred yards
later, the event repeated. seats were starting to fill up (with people AND foodstuff) but mark and
i held steady our rows. with no rack room above and no floor room below, we were surely entitled to
at least a full seat for our belongings! besides, the woman in front of mark had bags of eggplant and
beans piled next to her (and half the ones under the seats were hers) so SHE should have to give up
space before us!
but after the first 45 minutes, we realized that would all have to change. we kept stopping every few
hundred yards and though we feigned sleep every time the bus honked it's obnoxious horn to alert
oncoming passengers of its stop, someone eventually got brave and shook me awake so i'd move my things
to make room for him. so i piled everything on mark's adjoining seat (at least ONE of us could sit
alone!) but a few stops later, i realized this bus was just going to keep filling up with locals and
their fresh goods. mark and i stopped rolling our eyes at each other in disgust and sucked it up,
squeezing in next to each other an loading all our items into our laps. "alright," i thought, "so we're
a little cramped for three hours - i can handle it."
"cramped," as it turned out, was a complete and utter understatement. after the first hour, we'd
picked up enough people to fill the bus and enough fresh food to feed us for a month if we would become
stranded anywhere. but we kept stopping - that driver would lay on that damned horn, we'd come to
a screeching halt and more people would get on. this was getting ridiculous. not only would it
take us eight hours to make the three hour trip, but at this rate, the continuous addition to the
rooftop load and inside cabin was appearing to become a bit of a hazard. i knew what was coming
up too - i was quickly reminded of our trip into luang prabang - the first leg was that windy, twisty
road, throwing us back and forth, the bus often seeming as though it would tip over as the force
pulled it through the sharp turns. soon enough, the aisles started filling with people and every
time the bus would hong and stop there was a quiet "f---!" from me and a more tame, "does this driver
not KNOW that this bus is completely full?" from mark. as the sun rose over the hillside, we were
cruising through tiny towns with a dangerously overcrowded bus piled high with what i was sure was an unsafe
load on top.
all that didn't stop our driver from trying to collect as many 7000 kip (about 70 cents) fares as he
possibly could. someone in the back started un-stacking small, plastic, red and blue stools and
lining them in the narrow aisle. meanwhile, a kid crunched in between his dad and brother in a
row next to and behind us started puking in a plastic bag (and we hadn't even reached the REALLY
curvy road yet). but the cilantro aroma still superceded all scents - good thing.
the bus got so full that people started crawling across seats to reach any open pocket. (another,
slightly whispered "f---!" from me). at one point, mark thought i was going to lose it. i was
growing more and more claustrophobic and beginning to fear fro my life as we started rounding into
the sharp turn, throwing the bus nearly over its wheel base.
we finally, though, in reaching the mountainous area, had passed every town possible and therefore,
drove for a long period of time without stopping. and i reassured myself - things could always be
worse. we could not have a window or, for that matter, a soft seat (or any seat at all - people were
standing in the stairwells - wherever they could find room) and that fresh, aromatic cilantro
could have been live chickens or dead, ready-for-spit-roasting pigs! but i swore, if someone ended
up on my lap, or if, when we made that stop and the guy standing there with a rifle strapped to him
got on the bus, i would be off so fast (with or without my luggage!). but neigher incident occurred
so i just kept praying (harder and faster when the bus tilted so far that all the locals gasped and
then, in chorus, changed "oooooh! tsk tsk tsk! tsk tsk tsk!"
the road finally flattened (and straightened) out and i felt like the worst part was over. i guess
it was. a few more stops to cram in a few more bodies (where???) was tolerable, since i knew we only had
an hour or so left.
the last 20 minutes were grueling - we were so close, yet so far, not knowing to which bus station we
were headed. but we knew it when we saw it. the market was just adjacent (so we knew this was at
least where all the groceries would get off) and honestly, the sight of literally dozens and dozens
of tuk tuks told me this was a major dropping point for people too!
before the bus could even come to a complete stop, people on the ground were grabbing through the
windows, chattering with each other in lao, or laying eyes upon the only two white people looking a
bit too overwhelmed, throwing out offers for tuk tuk and taxi rides. disembarking was comic. in a
fast and furious effort to make sure our bags were safely loaded off the bus (and to avoid the circus
inside as the women scurried around to collect their bags), mark pushed himself through the tight
window and jumped to the ground. i passed our carry-ons to him and, doing as the locals did,
rudely pushed my own way out the main door. mark had meanwhile found a tuk tuk driver (well, of course,
the driver found him) and while i stood back watching the two of them reach up for our descending
baggage, i laughed at the zoo. mark, the tallest (and blondest) person stood out like a sore thumb
against the sea of circular, straw hats and silky, black-haired mobs. i curse for not having dug
the camera out for that shot...'
|
