Minivan Ride
Vang Vieng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
April 10, 2009
I did not sleep well last night AGAIN! I have been getting a good night sleep every other night this week. My tummy has been rumbling and I don't know why. I think I am going to stop having shakes for a bit and see what happens.
To prepare for our minivan ride I took some Immodium and some Gravol. I have it covered on both ends! LOL!
Bill was a sweetie and went to the front desk to order breakfast for us and brought it up to the room. I had a bite of eggs and some baguette and tea. Bill had some fruit, eggs, potatoes and baguette.
At 8:30 a tuk tuk picked us up at our hotel to take us to the bus station. We met Holly and Luke from Australia, they are going to Vang Vieng too. Once we boarded the minivan at 9:00 we thought we were going to leave and have the whole van to ourselves. LOL! We were joined by Lisa, Michael and their son Liam from New Zealand (had recently been living in Dubai), an older couple and 2 other girls. Lisa, Michael, Liam, Holly and Luke had met already on the slow boat from Huay Xia to Luang Prabang. Now that the van was full, we left at 9:20. I was already feeling queasy while they were packing our bags on the roof and was glad to get moving.
The ride was hilly and windy again. By the first (a 10 mins break) stop Liam who had been sitting in the back with Bill and I was not feeling well, so we gave him some Gravol. Thankfully I am feeling a bit better. We snacked on watermelon slices and a stale baguette. We ended up sharing the rest of the baguette with a little boy who was begging. They sure like charging for using the toilets in Laos, this one was only 2000 kip. Near the toilets there were 2 monkeys chained up, an adult and a baby. Not something you see every day...
Unfortunately the road is too winding so I can not sleep or read, but we are enjoying talking with our fellow passengers. Micheal has joined us in the back to let Liam sit closer to the front. Since Liam is by the window he has to patrol for kids who are throwing water at passing vehicles to prepare for Laos New Year (Thailand too). He was not doing the best job and Lisa got doused in one village.
At our second stop, for 5 mins, Bill was able to find black thread to fix Tom's backpack (not looking good, sorry Tom!).
At our third stop, for 1/2 hour, Bill bought 2 ice cream cups and I had a big bowl of soup with coriander, beef, slices of minced meat and veggies.
Our 231 km trip ended just after 3:30. So, it only took us 6 hours! We could have gone from Windsor to Muskoka in that time! Oh, and this is where the fun began. The old guy in the front was pissed that we did not get dropped in the town center because we now have to pay a tuk tuk to get into town. We are at a bus stop outside of town (they all are). He is refusing to get out and convinces the rest of the passengers to "take a stand" with him. The driver just laughed and walked away. The old guy chased him down and was trying to pull him back to the minivan. We all agreed to give him some extra money, but our driver was not interested. Eventually everyone got out of the minivan and we agreed upon a 8000 kip/person fee to be taken into town (as arranged by old guy). Meanwhile the old guy made a side deal with the driver to be dropped at his hotel, while the rest of us were just dropped in the middle of town. Bill and I were a bit off the beaten path, so we had to walk a long way with our bags...
We had emailed the hotel, but had not seen the response. They only have a room for us this evening and are full for the next two days. We took the room for the night and are going to have to find something for the rest of our stay. So, after we checked in we walked around town. We stopped at the hotel next door that is also on the river and looks really nice. They are full for the next two days. Further up the road Vansang has a room, but not tomorrow, only the next day. Further into town I found a Guest House that had rooms, but I don' think we want to stay there. It was not very nice and did not have a/c.
We stopped at an internet cafe to search for availability here and in Vientiane. Internet is expensive here, we paid 100 kip/min in Luang Prabang and it is 300 kip/min here! We did find that a hotel further up the road from us has some space.
After a brief stop at the internet we went to Nokeo or Norkeo for dinner. Most of the restaurants here are set up with low tables on a platform. You have to take off your shoes and sit on cushions at the table. We ordered grilled beef, grilled chicken and grilled shrimp that is being cooked on shish kabobs in front of the restaurant over coals. Bill had BeerLao and I had iced tea without sugar. They were very accommodating with my request and put a tea bag in water with ice and some lemon. It really did not taste too bad. I appreciated the effort! The food was pretty good. I liked the grilled veggies. Across the street there is a restaurant that is playing Friends reruns non-stop. I think it is the busiest place that we have seen.
We walked past our hotel to find a room for tomorrow. There were 2 nice hotels on the river, but again, they did not have room. At the bottom of the dirt road there is a Guest House that has a room (clean, but not a/c), so we booked tomorrow night there and the next night at Vansang (with a/c and a pool!).
Back in the room we started watching a Harry Potter movie, but fell asleep near the beginning.