It seems as though every time I log on to write I'm in a rush or short on time. Today is no different I suppose, as the internet cafe closes down in less than thirty minutes. Pardon my spelling and grammar as always, as Hunter S. says, this is written under duress.
Grace and I just had the craziest experience, the type of thing that you expect to happen on a long journey like this, especially when visiting such remote places. We arrived in Sam Neua last night at midnight and I rolled out of bed a little later than usual, about 8:00. We had a long journey from Muang Ngoi, about 15 hours, first by fishing boat, then switching to tuk-tuk, then onto a 20 seat bus for a 12 hour bus ride. There were 27 passengers on the bus, seven of which were sitting in the aisles on giant bags of rice. The bus stopped about a dozen times, and nearly drove off without me as I was answering natures call in the forest. It rained most of the way, and the bus bumped along on twisting winding pothole riddled roads.
We were both worn out from the trip so decided to have a little lie in before getting up to move about. By the time we both were showered and ready to get out and explore the town, it was about 10:00. We stopped at a restaurant en route to the local travel office to eat some hot soy noodles for seemingly the tenth time in two days. We then proceeded to walk around the town for an hour looking for the travel office which turned out to be directly next to the noodle restaurant with a line of trees obscuring the small sign. We chatted with the local "guide" whom directed us to take the 11:30 bus to Vieng Xai to see the caves, which is the main tourist attraction in this area. We hopped a tuk-tuk to the bus station and waited until 1:00 for the "bus" (a jumbo tuk-tuk) which got us to the bus station in Vieng Xai at 2:00. We were told the last bus bus from there would return to the town at 2:30, giving us exactly 30 minutes to find the caves and explore all seven. This was contrary to the travel guides information of a 5 pm return time, so we decided to brave it and risk that there would be a bus there at 5. The caves were interesting and certainly worth the visit. They were military strongholds for the Pathet Laos during the US secret air campaign against the communists rise in Laos during the Vietnam War.
This is where the trip got exciting. We returned to the bus station where there was in fact a bus waiting but the driver decided not to take us back to Sam Neua. We saw a pickup truck rigged with bamboo poles on the back as "handles" and 16 Lao people with all of their groceries and luggage. We tried to negotiate with the driver, but he was giving us an utterly rediculous price, 10 times what we paid to get there. He tried pulling out after we refused his price, but knowing all well we wouldn't make it back to town after he left, I got behind his truck and refused to let him leave without us. I literally threw Grace into the back and we shouted back and forth with the driver until we agreed on a more reasonable (but still rediculous) price. On the way back, we collectively held a tarp over our heads during a genuine tropical storm, then waited at a repair shop for two hours because apparently his steering column needed repair along the way. What a day.
Muang Ngoi was paradise, a town of literally one street surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river on the fourth, it has a population of only 700 people. We could only stay a day, but had a wonderful fishing trip and enjoyed the karst scenery and misty clouds hanging low over the river. A really beautiful place and I wish I could have had another day of swinging on the hammock on the patio of the bungalow.
We depart tomorrow morning for Phonsavan to see the Plain of Jars then on to Vang Vieng for a week to work on the organic farm. More stories hopefully from Phosavan or VV.
man zou,
~Christopher~
