Public transportation in Laos
Sa bai deet!
Well I guess it's time I touched on public transportation here in South East Asia. Specifically here in Laos...
When I tell you that much of the transportation here in Vientiane is funded by Japan you probably think, ooo, state-of-the-art transportation system then. You'd be wrong.
We think that Japan have just sent them the buses they don't use anymore and used it as an excuse to get new ones because they ain't that great.
You remember the 2-day boat trip from Thailand to Luang Prabang? Well that trip was actually better than many of the bus journeys we've made. The journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng consisted of climbing over God knows how many sacks of monkey nuts strategically positioned in the aisle to get to the seat. But at least that seat had a back to it and was relatively comfortable (see photo of Andy nearly touching the roof thanks to nuts - not his nut, the monkey nuts! ;)). That journey took 6 hours during which I had 2 seat mates sat next to me. The first guy took up a little too much of my space (which was annoying seeing as he was skinny) and subsequently kept leaning on me whenever we took a corner (which was frequent). The second guy fell asleep and kept resting his head on my shoulder. Aw, bless. Toilet stops were on the side of the road and similar to those in the Outback of Australia - ie every tree is a lavatory. I tried. I failed. I don't do open space toilets! I had problems with this as a child and evidently not much has changed.
When we did stop in places with a toilet - you were better off holding on. So I did. For 6 hours. Needless to say I was in desperate need of the loo by the time we got to Viang Vieng.
The trip from Viang Vieng to Vientiane was similar - but with a much less crowded bus and minus the monkey nuts. But with added bonus of incredibly uncomfortable wooden seats that came half-way up your back and had a very inconvenient jutting out part right at the top which was rather painful after being sat with it sticking half-way up your back for 6 hours. And it didn't have the tasteful curtains the other bus had. ;)
They have a system here of no bus stops. When you want to get off the bus you holler to the driver - wouldn't that be much simpler back home and then they could drop you right outside your front door (if it was on the bus route)! ;) To let you know the bus is coming, they beep the horn. But don't worry if you miss the bus, many people catch it by simply jumping on the back of a motorbike and riding parallel to the bus, as if they're going to do some daring Hollywood stunt and jump onto the moving vehicle. Sadly it's never that exciting, the bus simply stops for them. But if they have a motorbike in the first place, you wonder why they need to catch the bus at all! ;)
Well I guess it's time I touched on public transportation here in South East Asia. Specifically here in Laos...
When I tell you that much of the transportation here in Vientiane is funded by Japan you probably think, ooo, state-of-the-art transportation system then. You'd be wrong.
We think that Japan have just sent them the buses they don't use anymore and used it as an excuse to get new ones because they ain't that great.
You remember the 2-day boat trip from Thailand to Luang Prabang? Well that trip was actually better than many of the bus journeys we've made. The journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng consisted of climbing over God knows how many sacks of monkey nuts strategically positioned in the aisle to get to the seat. But at least that seat had a back to it and was relatively comfortable (see photo of Andy nearly touching the roof thanks to nuts - not his nut, the monkey nuts! ;)). That journey took 6 hours during which I had 2 seat mates sat next to me. The first guy took up a little too much of my space (which was annoying seeing as he was skinny) and subsequently kept leaning on me whenever we took a corner (which was frequent). The second guy fell asleep and kept resting his head on my shoulder. Aw, bless. Toilet stops were on the side of the road and similar to those in the Outback of Australia - ie every tree is a lavatory. I tried. I failed. I don't do open space toilets! I had problems with this as a child and evidently not much has changed.
When we did stop in places with a toilet - you were better off holding on. So I did. For 6 hours. Needless to say I was in desperate need of the loo by the time we got to Viang Vieng.
The trip from Viang Vieng to Vientiane was similar - but with a much less crowded bus and minus the monkey nuts. But with added bonus of incredibly uncomfortable wooden seats that came half-way up your back and had a very inconvenient jutting out part right at the top which was rather painful after being sat with it sticking half-way up your back for 6 hours. And it didn't have the tasteful curtains the other bus had. ;)
They have a system here of no bus stops. When you want to get off the bus you holler to the driver - wouldn't that be much simpler back home and then they could drop you right outside your front door (if it was on the bus route)! ;) To let you know the bus is coming, they beep the horn. But don't worry if you miss the bus, many people catch it by simply jumping on the back of a motorbike and riding parallel to the bus, as if they're going to do some daring Hollywood stunt and jump onto the moving vehicle. Sadly it's never that exciting, the bus simply stops for them. But if they have a motorbike in the first place, you wonder why they need to catch the bus at all! ;)
Usually it's not just them that gets on the bus: it's boxes of food or sacks of various things that you probably wouldn't care to know what the contents were. Even when the roof rack is full, it's not a problem - pile everything into as much of the aisle as possible: sod health and safety should anything happen to the bus like, well, you know catapulting down the side of the gorges on some of the hairpin bends we've been round. ;)
Still, at least they're not chicken buses.... or the seemingly only other local form of transportation in Laos (well, Viang Vieng anyway): the tractor (see third photo). Yes that's how local people get around there. We envisaged that would be our mode of transportation to Viantiene - days on a tractor! Thankfully it wasn't. ;)
So yes, the UK's public transportation system is actually rather good (I never thought I'd say that) in comparison. Thank your lucky stars next time you catch a bus.
So with that thought it mind, and bearing in mind various horror stories we'd read on the internet, we decided not to attempt the 2-day bus ride from hell to Hanoi in Vietnam. We're taking the easy option: flying. It cost $117 but hey, why put yourself through torture if you don't have to?! ;)
Tatty-bye for now.. ;)
CJ xx
posted by CJ at 3:18 AM
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