January 7, 2015. In BKK.

Spent several very relaxing days in Vang Vieng - rented a small motorbike one day and rode around on some terrible, dusty, bumpy, gravel roads.  Rented a kayak and floated down the river for several hours.  Laid in a hammock and watched kayakers floating down the river most of the day yesterday.

The inet signal did not work in the room and I did not feel like sitting in the lobby to access the inet, or read emails, or watch the stock market, or read the news or update the blog.  The TV had only one English channel and no news, so I listened to music.

Such is life in Lao and especially Vang Vieng.  As the saying goes,  Lao P.D.R. does not mean Lao Peoples Democratic Republic - it means Lao, Please Don't Rush. I did not do much more yestyerday than relax in the hammock.  Lao is a very relaxing place.

The van ride from Vang Vieng south to the capital of Ventiene was a typical third nation road trip.  Endless potholes, gravel, twists, turns, bumps, chickens, cattle in the road, passing on curves and countless adults and children idly sitting like Buddhas outside their roadside houses.   

There were 15 passengers crammed in the newer van, a Toyota I believe, and the driver.  Add the weight of the travelers and all the weight from the backpacks and luggage for the 15 travelers - and two bicycles - up on the van roof and every bump and pothole we hit, which were continuous and countless, were transferred directly to the seats.  There were no shocks or springs, because both were fully compressed by all the weight in and on the van.  We left at 9 AM and arrived in Ventiene, at 1:30.  There were several hours to burn before a 6:30 PM flight, so hopped a ride with the owner of aa airport store that offered bag storage for $3.00 a bag.  He was from Ukraine and his wife was from France.  He graciously offered a ride into town from the airport.  We knocked around town for a few hours and then flew from Ventiene to BKK, a short 55 minute flight.

The van ride today was faster than the bus ride 4 days ago from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng.  The ride took 9 hours and we averaged 20 MPH for the entire trip.  It was a nice bus but the road was Lao terrible.  

Crossing the mountains and jungle south of Luang Prabang there was a sudden, loud, ominous clunk from under the bus.  I thought it was either a flat tire or something snapped with the brakes or the suspension system.  The bus stopped and the driver crawled under the bus to investigate.  After 5 minutes of poking and prodding, we were again underway.  The road was steep downhill with lots of curves.  We traveled about 5 -10 MPH for about 20 minutes then slowly, incrementally, sped up again to our cruising speed of 20 MPH.   Road travel in Lao is much less enjoyable than slow boat travel down the Mekong.

From the Vang Vieng room balcony.  

From the riverside hammock.

I head home in the afternoon tomorrow.  Will fly BKK to Hong Kong, H.K. to Vancouver, B.C. then down to PDX.  

Today is day100 of 101 days of my Walkabout.  The time went quickly.  I circled the earth.  The start of the trip in October in Ankara, Turkey seems like a distant blur.  I met many wonderful, friendly, helpful, interesting people along the way.

I am ready to sleep in my own bed, listen to my stereo, watch American football and the Oregon Ducks in the BCS, sit in the hot tub, drink tap water, have a hoppy IPA and drive the new car.  I only put 1500 miles on it before I left on Walkabout. 

 

I am especially looking forward to wearing some different clothes and walking around in something other than the sandals and the single pair of shoes I have worn since September 30.

Namaste.