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<\/a>Well that is were the story gets laughable. \u00c2\u00a0We get to the bus station just before 9am, plenty of time to get our tickets and a seat on the bus. \u00c2\u00a0Our bus is there waiting, and while it says VIP on the front, I suspect that maybe the last VIP to ride on the bus was Ho Chi Minh because it is definitely starting to show it’s wear. \u00c2\u00a0Never the less, at 9:15am they announce that we should all get on the bus to prepare to depart. \u00c2\u00a0The bus is about half full and I am thinking this is actually pretty good we will be able to spread out and there will be no-one sitting in the isles (we have actually seen this before in Thailand on a VIP bus). \u00c2\u00a0Just before 9:30 the driver steps on and starts up the bus, the air conditioning comes on and it looks like we are getting ready to go, then the driver walks off the bus – to have a smoke. \u00c2\u00a0Then smoke finished he goes for a slow wander around the bus and I suddenly realize that Ian had described what was actually happening! \u00c2\u00a0I laugh to myself and think OK, this is SE Asia after all and stuff like this really does happen, so we are going to be 15 mins or so late and then we will get going.<\/p>\nNope! \u00c2\u00a0We sit on the bus for about 30 mins while there is a heated debate outside between some tourists and some locals, we think it about some confusion between what they thought they purchased and what they were being offered, but anyone who has traveled here should know that it is tough to win an argument with the locals. \u00c2\u00a0As 10am approaches it looks like that argument has dissolved (all the Laos people involved have just walked away) when another bus pulls into the station and a bunch of people start getting off – we know there is not a 2nd bus from here going to Vang Vieng, and it is too early for any incoming buses to be arriving so this is a little puzzling, but when a 3rd bus pulls in beside us it gets even more odd. \u00c2\u00a0After about another 10 or 15 minutes the driver of our bus steps in and turns the bus off, and therefore the air conditioning, and another 15mins after that just as it gets fairly hot on the bus we start to hear rumors that we are transferring to another bus (the 3rd one that arrived). \u00c2\u00a0There is some mumbling about our bus not having the right driver or something, so we start to move our bags from the first bus to the 3rd bus – in the meantime the people from the 2nd bus have also all been moved onto the 3rd bus, and the result is that the bus is now actually too full, so they find some local people to kick off so that everyone has a seat. \u00c2\u00a0It is now almost 2 hours after when we were supposed to leave, and we have gone from a nice spacious half full bus, to a very full and somewhat crowded bus, but to cap it off for good measure we notice them loading what looks like a few spare parts into a junk drawer in the front of the bus – traveling with extra wheel bearings is normal right?!?<\/p>\n
Between all the waiting around and loading, unloading and reloading buses we have met a few people here including a couple from Australia traveling with their daughter and have at least passed the time away sharing stores and having a laugh at the whole situation as there is nothing else you really can do.<\/p>\n
Finally, the driver gets onto the bus (he must be done both of his cigarettes by now), closes the door and the bus starts moving! \u00c2\u00a0I am seated next to a girl from New York who is spending a couple of months here traveling around a few countries and we start to pass the time talking about the various places we have been and things we have seen, so at least the next 5 hours are hopefully going to pass quickly.<\/p>\n
There is a good part to the trip though, and that is that the scenery is breath-taking. \u00c2\u00a0There is really no way to describe the view as the bus winds it’s way up and down the mountains, valleys and switch-back turns. \u00c2\u00a0I can only imagine that this is what it might be like to drive through the Andes or something as the country side does not really resemble any place I have seen before.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a>After a stop for lunch at a place quite literally in the middle of nowhere and then another stop as we pop out of the mountains to cool the brakes on the bus down (yes, we really stopped so that they could pour cold water on the brakes) we make our way into Vang Vieng – the trip has taken about 9.5 hours including the delay at the start so I guess we are just a little off of the 5 hours we were told it would take \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n