Goodbye laos...Hello Vietnam!!

(Notice that I resisted the urge to say 'good morning Vietnam'). Final thoughts on Laos...

Beer Lao

Ubiquitous in Laos, from tiny villages to the main towns, everywhere you go Beer Lao is present. It seems that they even sponsor companies, restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, you name it....Every restaurant and guesthouse has the same sign with the name of the establishment and the Beer Lao emblem.

To be fair, it's one of the best beers I've tasted and it's the same price as a coke......hence, hard to resist.

Bus journeys

In Laos there are three types of bus:
Local bus
Express bus
VIP bus

General rules of thumb:
If you are a westerner, you will sit at the back.
If there are no seats left, people can sit in the aisles.
If there is no space in the hold, chickens etc can sit in the aisles.
Most of the seats are reserved for goods to be transported between towns.

Local bus = stops every five minutes to pick someone up at the side of the road. Stops for a smoke break for the driver. Stops for food. Stops for no reason. Generally takes roughly two hours more than advertised.

Express bus = as above but costs more.

VIP bus = as above, most expensive but has an on board toilet!! (the toilet is out of order).

Even though most of our bus journeys were hard work, it was a great way to travel and for the most part the locals were really friendly. I was intrigued at one rest stop by the road kill that was for sale; dead birds were draped over the top of a cage that had either live giant rats or voles in (it was hard to distinguish...). I was quite intrigued but needless to say my minimal knowledge of Lao didn't stretch to asking for an explanation. I presumed they were for sale to eat but wondered what happened if you bought one? Do you take it away live on a lead or would they kill it for you... I think one of the Laos guys on the bus read my mind - he pointed at the cage and shrugged, think he was none the wiser too....

Anyway, probably the most memorable bus journey had to be our final one - a 24 hour drive from Vientiane (Laos) to Hanoi, Vietnam..... It seemed like a good idea when we booked it....