V.I.P Bus to Vang Vieng...Hmm, not sure about that

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Vang Vieng, Laos
I think that V.I.P. in when traveling in Foreign countries stands for Very Interesting Public transportation. Today was one of those days that I am glad to be traveling alone because if I had any of my friends with me, they would of disowned me after today, swearing to never travel with me again.
I signed up for the V .I.P. bus to travel from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, the V.I.P. bus was suppose to be the top of the three choices, take around 4-5 hours and be the nicest bus that included lunch at a beautiful stop along the ride.
I knew I was in for a long day when I saw one of the drivers under the bus at the station with a box of tools before we even took off. But we all loaded the "okay" bus and waited until about half past 9am, ( we were to leave at 9am) when we saw another , REALLY old bus pull up and we were told to switch buses, ahhh, I knew this was coming.
The bags were switched, and we boarded this new bus, well, It wasn't new,,,,in fact it was so old that it looked like it had been in storage for months, and hadn't been cleaned in that long as well.
This french woman sitting in front of me, with her oh so quiet and obedient husband ( I think he knew better) starting ranting and raving about the condition of this bus and even got out her video camera to film the interior of the bus and the transfer and all that was occurring. Very entertaining since what in the world would she do with such a video? Send it to the owner of the bus company? Dateline? Anyways, she was demanding that this was " Unacceptable!!!"
She ended up sitting down after the bus employees just stared at her and not understanding or caring about a word she was saying... and we took off.
Within an hour of wondering when this bus would break down, we stopped to pick up some locals and they were given plastic seats that were stored in the bathroom of the bus that didn't work, so it was used for storage i suppose, and they lined the isle with the plastic chairs giving them instant seats for the ride . Pretty ridiculous, and very unsafe, but I have seen this done before in other countries I have traveled through ..But this is the V.I.P. Bus!!! Hee, hee, the french woman freaked out again for about 15 minutes...her husband still said nothing ( probably been down this road before with her)
So off we went on our V.I.P. Bus...stopping in the middle of nowhere a couple time for us to find a hiding spot in the bushes, behind a tree if we had to go. Okay for men, sucks for us girls. ( the men working the bus were men,...Of course! :) By the way, having a skirt on is HUGE in the whole having to squat thing, works wonders.
And this is for you Sara, I would of loved a disgusting bathroom at gas stop in the middle of Vietnam, more than trying to squat on the side of a hill , trying to not fall down the side of the mountain, with cows watching me, very funny to say the least. :)
SIX hours later after passing the cutest restaurants on some fantastic pit stops, we stopped for our " Free " lunch, at some horrible roadside restaurant that I believe was really one of the bus drivers wife's house. In which we were served a buffet of unknown meats and noodles, that could of been there for a really long time, which as brave as I am in trying new things, I am also smart and wise , so I choose a bag of chips and a Fanta which I paid for myself. Still had another couple of hours of bus ride ahead and you know where I'm going with this...
But after all that, I can even begin to tell you how amazingly beautiful the scenery was out my old bus window. I saw the most amazing green meadows, large limestone cliffs, and other than an occasional hut and small village, no building in site for that 8 hours bus ride ( yes it was suppose to take 4-5)
Thats the great thing about life unexpected, its just that. Knowing that sometimes the most beautiful, wonderful things will come your way, and for me, pass by my window to show me that sometimes its the tough things in life that give us the most rewards. I saw people that were living in shacks, barely staying together, and they had this incredible backdrop of this beautiful country right behind them. Having no money, and no material things, but having the beauty surrounding them every day, such landscape that would sell for millions in other parts of the world. I wonder if they even realize how lucky they are to live in such a place , and fools like me go on crazy bus rides just to pass by and enjoy it for a while.
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