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Leap to Luang Prabang
3:10 AMAfter five days of riding, our bums are sore and we're exhausted. We decide to hop, skip and jump all the way from Pakse up to Luang Prabang for some R&R. The sleeper buses in Laos are double-deckers with not-quite-twin beds that count as two seats. If you're on your own, you will be snuggling with a stranger.
Straight up, I hate the top of double-decker buses. They wobble too much, making me motion sick and allowing my doom and gloom imagination to think up scenarios for tipping over. I was on a Mega Bus between DC and Philly a few years ago when instead of going into Philly, the bus takes us close to the airport, pulls over and stops. Passengers get angry quickly since we can see the city skyline but aren't moving towards it. In typical Mega Bus service style, the driver doesn't announce what's going on, maybe he's into mysteries. Frustrated I need to know, so I hang out with the driver until he spills the beans. Ever since an accident where the bus ran into a low bridge decapitating four people in the upper front row (!!!), the buses have sensors alerting the driver of any low bridge in the area. They have to pull over and wait for a Mega Bus person to come guide them through safely. File that under: Things I Wish I Was Blissfully Unaware Of.
Surprise surprise we made it!! Well at least most of the way. Groggy, we hop onto a minibus for the second leg of the trip. This part of the journey is just as harrowing but for different reasons. The winding mountain roads are under construction so there are extra obstacles to maneuver around. At one point the driver charades that I get out and lead him through the obstacles. From my new vantage point on the rainy road, I can see the road is actually split, as in there is a foot-wide crack in the pavement and into the earth below. But this is all just a normal day here in Laos, we hop the crack and keep on keeping on.
Needless to say, I'm not excited when I realize that not only are we upper deck, we're FRONT ROW BABY! Ryan's pumped since it's the best seat in the house... I on the other hand, examine the cracks across the huge fishbowl of a windshield and proceed to have the first anxiety attack of my life. Here I am shaking, tears streaming down my cheeks, unable to calm myself down. Luckily we've picked up a few medicinal helpers for these overnight bus rides and as I wait for that to kick in, I try to shut out the world. I put on my eye mask so I cannot see my fears. My latest set of headphones just broke, so I wrap my phone into a bandanna and tie it to my head with the speaker in my ear so I cannot hear my fears. And I bury myself under Ryan to feel protected, still shaking and crying, waiting for sleep to come. I'm aware how absolutely insane I look and I just don't care.
We are so excited to be in Luang Prabang. Everyone has told us what a magical place it is and how much we're going to love it. Well... sorry to crush any dreams out there, and our own, but this city just isn't for us. It is beautiful and quaint, but it's expensive for backpackers which is limiting. Even motorbike rentals are over double what they were in Pakse, where the only tourism is motorbiking and they can determine whatever market price they want. We are instantly frustrated but we remember that our focus here is rest and relaxation. My newly found "Zen Coloring Book" is a welcome aid for said R&R. I sit in my less-than-stable chair and learn to pull the table in and out to refill my bottomless tea.
History will have to record the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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SUPER IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: This week of rest is punctured by hard hitting news from back home. Three days in a row we wake up to the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and five Dallas officers. If you're as angry, disgusted, disillusioned and flat out scared of the injustice in the US as we are, please get involved in the Injustice Boycott to start on December 5th. Protests aren't causing the policy change that's needed, but together our consumer dollars have great power. Joining now will keep you in the loop as plans develop. If you know of a business, organization, charity, religious group, or institution that is interested in affecting social injustice, please send them this form for involvement information.
History will have to record the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Please sign up and be the change. Thank you!!!
Otherwise, we fill ourselves at the night market with grilled everything and sticky rice from bamboo steamer baskets. Head to the impressive Tad Kuang Si and watch the playful rescued Moon Bears. These bears were living in cramped cages where they're kept alive only to be drained of their stomach bile, a substance used in Chinese and Vietnamese medicinal practices. One of the bears was without her arm but that didn't slow her wrestling match down. Then there is the lazy instigator bear, poking at the wrestling bears from the safety of her platform. It's a beautiful place, but we're ready to head back to the countryside.
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