Casualties of the Trip

Made it to Vang Vieng on the VIP bus--let's just say if that was the VIP bus, then I would hate to see the ordinary bus. Vang Vieng is about halfway as the crow flies between Luang Prabang and Vientiane, but it takes twice as long to get from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang as it does from Vientiane to Vang Vieng. Why? Because northern laos is pretty mountainous, and the road, though in better condition than Preston Road, is windy and snakelike (Vientiane is in the flat plains of the mekong). The only time the bus ever went over 50km/hr (i was sitting near the driver's seat, so I saw the spedometer) was on the straightaways. Otherwise, once we hit the foothills about two hours from Vientiane, it was a steady 20-40km pace.

Drive was very pretty though, if a bit windy. Clifford would not have liked it. Lots of green tree covered mountains.

Scenery here is very pretty--surrounded by green karst mountains. My cousins would love it here--they have bars and restaurants where you can sit around all day watching episodes of Friends on tv.

We'll see how long I stay here. Either I'll head out to Luang Prabang tmw, or in two days.

Six weeks, and I have a brief casualty report:
the cord I used to link my camera to the computer--lost it somewhere in siem reap, but bought a nifty little usb stick that I could stick my memory card into and would upload the photos.

my new balance tennis shoes--in yogyakarta, after having gotten me up Merapi.

the glass face of my watch, which cracked when it slipped in the shower and fell on the floor in Kuala Lumpur. I have temporarily remedied the solution by enclosing it with strips of scotch tape to protect it, but there are some pretty decent cracks in it. Bus driver was making fun of me for having it, pointing to his watch and showing me how nice it was. My reply? But your watch makes your wrist turn green. Mine doesn't. Guy started laughing his head off.

Random fact:
I don't know what the Canadians did to ever tick off the Lao, but they certainly did something. Whereas a basic tourist visa on arrival costs $35 for US and lots of other western countries, Canadians have to pay $42. Cubans do not get any level of communist solidarity--they have to pay $30.