On the Road Again

Day 334
I woke up early to shower and pack. I have been very spoiled recently and haven't had a cold shower in some time. Nicole and I met for breakfast and were able to get our guesthouse to make us sandwiches to go.

We walked to the local bus stop and it wasn't long until a tuk-tuk driver tried to tell us that we were in the wrong place. We found a woman who spoke English at a nearby restaurant and were able to confirm that we were in the right place. He just wanted money off of us. She also said that the bus arrives around 10, 11 or 12. We had been told 9:30 at our guesthouse. Isn't Lao time grand?

We got lucky and the bus showed around 10:30. The roads were horrendous and neither of us could read without getting sick. We entertained ourselves by singing Disney songs and eventually any song we could think of. I don't think we amused those sitting around us though. Eventually we both put on our ipods and I fell asleep. Apparently I hit my head quite hard on the window during one bump but slept through it.

One very annoying thing about bus rides is the toilet. In Thailand, and everywhere else I have been, they stop at roadside restaurants with private, but squat toilets. Here they just pull over on the side of the road, often in a space with no foliage. I was desperate and managed to get up a bit of a hill and walk a few minutes on a trail. No one from the bus could see me, but I think I provided some entertainment for the neighborhood kids.

Around 5 pm we arrived in Phonsavan. We took the free transport offered by a guesthouse to save some cash. We then set up tours for the next day.

Once we had both showered we went looking for dinner. We were both pretty hungry and when we couldn't find the place in our books we decided to just go for some Chinese. After dinner we managed to find a locals only club (we were the only tourists) with a really bad sound system and karaoke. We also ran into Aire here, the guy who ran our guesthouse. We had met his two little girls earlier as well, the oldest was named Katie. He was having a going away party for his sister and we were invited to join in.

I was pretty tired after the long day and headed back before Nicole. Well, the bad karaoke might have been what drove me away!