Vang Vieng to Phonsavan

A songthaew came to get me at my hotel at the appointed time to take me to the bus station where our minibus was waiting. The inside of the minibus was already full of stuff; there were sacks of grain on the aisle and cans of cooking oil underneath the seats. Because of this, I was stoked when we set out with four empty seats.

The minibus headed north halfway to Luang Prabang, then turned east. Just after turning east, the driver stopped for two women with six children. They put a lot of stuff atop the minibus, including two chickens in a cardboard box. It got crowded. The road was winding and bumpy.

The driver didn’t stop much, so I was glad I kept to my regimen of forced dehydration on long travel days. We didn't have lunch until 2.30pm. At the lunch stop, I interacted briefly with a European guy who was cycling through Laos. Talk about a challenge!

After lunch, the driver picked up another woman and child. They sat atop the sacks of grain in the aisle. It got very uncomfortable. We rolled into Phonsavan well behind schedule. My first impression of Phonsavan was that it felt like a frontier town, especially with the amount of Chinese and Vietnamese signage. From the minibus station, I found my hotel easily. After checking in, I went out looking for a group tour the next day to the Plain of Jars.

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