Being that I am now a frugal backpacker I decided to forgo the chance to fly from Hanoi to Laos and take the much cheaper yet more time consuming 24 hour chicken bus. The bus was to leave from Hanoi at 7 pm and reach Vientienne the next day. Well after doing almost no research on this I went ahead and booked because it was only $22. When we got to the bus we were shocked to say the least. It was an old beat up coach packed full of supplies on top, underneath, and in the back of the bus. I've included a pic I took before we even left Hanoi. There were 3 others who had booked the same bus as I and we each grabbed up seats hoping that no one else would get on and we could stretch out a little. Well our hopes were lost as it seemed we kept picking up more people and more supplies throughout the night. Finally at 1 in the morning we reached a stop where we picked up more people and filled every seat as well as there were several people sitting on plastic seats in the aisle.
It was very hard to sleep so I stayed awake talking to Jessica, another American, who got on on the last stop. Apparently they had a really nice sleeper bus before being transferred onto our chicken bus. Around 5 in the morning the bus came to a halt and it turned out we were at the border but had to wait for it to open. Even after it opened we went through a crazy process of getting our exit stamps and having to 'pay' for an exit stamp. I think its very lucrative to be a border guard. Hours later we finally make it into Laos and are on our way again only to stop ten minutes down the road for one of the most lax customs checkpoints I've ever seen. We got back on briefly before stopping ten minutes later for what they said was lunch. None of us were hungry so we didn't really eat but it turns out we probably should have. Two hours after we stopped we all were waiting on the bus wondering what was going on while the driver and his friends were outside playing bocce ball. We assumed we were waiting to pick up more supplies or people but that wasn't the case. All of a sudden they decided they had enough bocce and started the bus back up. Well that turned out to be the last stop (other than a quick stop to jump into the fields for a wee) before we ended up in Vientienne around 6pm. The trip was definitely a memorable one that I would like to forgot but most likely will scar me for the rest of my life. The only upside was that I met some really cool people who I ended up traveling with through Laos.
Jessica and I had read that Vientienne had a bowling alley and we all decided to treat ourselves after such a horrific ride. Bowling was a lot of fun and since everything closes early in Laos anyways we called it an early night exhausted from the crazy ride. Adam, a Swede who I met on the Hanoi bus, and I wanted to try to make it to Luang Prabang for the lunar new year because it was the place to be. Jessica and two other Brits (Jo and Mary) were going to Vang Vieng the next day, about halfway between Vientienne and Luang Prabang, and asked if we wanted to go so they booked us on the bus as well. Turns out that the nice comfy bus we were supposed to have wasn't so nice and comfy. We were duped again! Once again we were relieved just to get off the bus but we were finally in Vang Vieng, one of the crazies little towns I've ever been to.
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