…….or should I say coming to terms with our age! It’s been a tough couple of days and even though we came to Asia trying to leave our North American expectations and ways of living and thinking behind, it can be quite difficult at times and you realize that patience really is a virtue and the people of Laos have that down pat.  

We decided that we would take a bus to Nong Kiaw which the Lonely Planet described as a sleepy little village offering mesmerizing views of soaring limestone crags and wonderful mountains.  It had a population of 3500 and basically was a pair of dusty streets with wonderful views of the river when crossing the bridge. The woman at the bus station told us it would take 14 hours by bus and Jim’s face went ashen because it was only about a 100kms.  Thinking she misunderstood us we showed her on the map and she kept telling us it was 14hrs so we go back to Luang Prabang to check into an alternative mode of travel.  Lucky for us 12 seater mini vans go on a regular basis and were not that much moreexpensive so we decided on that mode of transportation.  Well getting a straight story from anyone has become almost impossible and I finally realized that when a person from Lao nods their head saying “yes, yes”  it really doesn’t mean anything except they are happy to please.   This was evident when the twelve seater, air conditioned van became a fourteen seater with the windows opened full tilt.  Marilyn and I were stuck in the back with two other women and every time we hit a bump our heads hit the ceiling and you know how  short we are.  The bus trip was about three and a half hours so we knew we could make it .  On the bus was a young man from Vancouver who was working/volunteering for an NGO and he told us we were in for a long bus trip from Nong Khiaw to the Vietnam border and he told us about a great river trip to Muang Khua which was about six hours and would cut a significant amount of time off our next bus trip so we decided to do that.  easier said than done!!!  In Nong Khiaw, after we got settled into our guesthouse, we walked to the river to check departure times for the next day to find out that it would only go if there were 18 people……..which meant it could be tomorrow, or the next day or the next.  So we then walked the dusty streets again back to the bus station to find out that  you couldn’t get guaranteed seats on the bus the next day either because it depended on how many seats would be vacated by people getting off the bus.  In the steaming heat we once again walk those dusty roads back to the guesthouse and picked up a couple of beer and a bottle of wine along the way.

By then we were a little frustrated, very dirty and tired and it was a good time to get a shower, relax and have a glass of wine and decide how we were going to get to Vietnam……….but of course there was no hot water;actually I don’t think Marilyn had any water in her shower at all.   So it was a quick clean-up, then a glass of wine and off we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner…..the good news is that the food is always good!   So we decided to sleep on it and in the morning go to the river and hope there was a boat and enough people to fill it.  I, for one, didn’t sleep much because I was reading our travel guide and it described the route from the boat, if we could get it, as a “grueling ten hour bus trip” and one I didn’t want to make.  I woke up in the night thinking “what the hell am I doing here” and how long will I be here because getting out was not going to be easy and lots of stinky thinking going on before I finally fell asleep.   Jim, as usual, was awake first and he was also thinking about our dilemma and after discussing all of the options we decided it was probably best to backtrack to Luang Probang and fly to Hanoi……..but first we had to discuss this with Marilyn.  We knew she would be awake as we had agreed to meet early for breakfast so when I went to check it was obvious she was ready to do something different and we both said at the same time “we’re getting too old for this”………..and when I told her Jim and I were thinking that backtracking and flying to Hanoi was a good idea the biggest smile came over her face and she said “that’s exactly what I was thinking”…….so the decision was made but, as usual, easier said than done!!!

       We went to a little cafe, of sorts, for breakfast where we had the best breakfast since we arrived.  The Laotian lady was smiling and friendly( they always are) and served up great coffee with a fabulous omelet for Jim and a Lao pancake for Marilyn and I that had fried bananas and ginger on it with a little coconut cream…….some good!  We were chatting about how to get a bus or minivan out of town when the two guys at the next table told us that the minivan they had come up on was in fact the back of a truck that was loaded with people, watermelons, huge jugs of water and a bench to sit on……….and cautioned us to make sure we didn’t get on the public bus.   So off we went to check the buses and/or minivans and were told that if we were willing to leave right away there was a twelve seater minivan leaving so we did.  But when it arrived, once again, there were fourteen people onboard and a baby and the seat Jim was to sit on was broken……….but we were anxious to leave because no one could tell us when we might get out so off we went on another bumpy ride with the windows open to serve as air conditioning.

Hope this doesn’t sound like a crap session because all of this has just gone to show me how difficult it is to leave those North American ways behind and to see how the people of Laos struggle everyday and how easy I really have it.  The people here work so hard and it seems like they are not really getting anywhere.  On the trip down to Luang Probang I was sitting next to an elderly man from Switzerland who has been living in Asia for about ten years and he was vacationing in Laos.  He stated that Laos, with a population of 6.5 million, hasn’t got a chance first because of Thailand’s 80million wanting their resources and now because China is taking whatever it wants from Laos and this is evident as you travel through Laos.  The hills are stripped of trees and just can’t imagine what it’s like here in the rainy season.    In spite of all of this the people seem very happy and are very welcoming and seeing them with their children just warms your heart…….they impress as extremely caring!       So how dare I complain?     Well I’m not………..just writing on my blog about an amazing trip, the good and the bad, with a great husband/tour guide and one of my best friends………it just can’t get any better than that………well a little hot water might help!