So after an acumulative 90+ hours on our trip so far we have learnt a few things about buses. We have been in minivans, VIP buses, local buses - where everyone stares, buses without toilets, buses with karaoke, bus with excessive air con and buses with none, buses that sit on the horn the entire way, buses with beds and buses that have broken down. Throughout all of these journeys we have compiled the 7 P's of bus survival:
1. Pringles - cheap to buy, easy to find and pure carbs to keep you going;
2. Pinapple - a bit harder to find but refreshing and delightful when you do;
3. Purified water - a given!
4. Pills - of the sleeping variety;
5. Petrol - because without it you arent going to get very far;
6. Patience - for when the bus breaks down, gets a flat tyre, when you are seemingly running behind time or for the guarenteed person that has travel sickness; and
7. Phew! - the sigh of relief when you finally make it to your destination safe and sound!
So there is a little bit of advice! And now an update.
We left Vientiane the night we got there and jumped on a sleeping bus to Pakse. Beds on a bus seems odd, looked odd but was surprisingly comfortable. We arrived in Pakse, realised that yet again there is not a whole lot to do in Southern Loas so booked in for a day tour to see the Bolevean Platau. We saw tea and coffee plantations where everything is done by hand, we saw waterfalls (or in case of the first one we didn't see because of the dense mist), we saw our tour guide devour a nasty looking spider and villages showing the traditional way of life. Then it was back on a bus straight after the tour to Champasaak to check out the temple. After arriving at 10:00pm that night we decided to see the temple at sunrise then jump on another bus at 8:00am to head down to the Laos/Cambodia border.
We made it to 4000 Islands at 12:00pm where we were informed that the next bus to Cambodia didnt leave until 9:00am the next day. Standing there thinking we would have to spend the night on the street - rather than go by boat to the islands and back again, we were approached by a Laos man who said he could get us to the last bus that left from the border at 12:30pm. So the oddest choice we have made so far we followed....
So there we were flying down the highway - hoping we were going in the right direction - in the Laos man's personal car that almost had no windscreen and the doors were falling off! Convinced we were in the beginning stages of a horror movie we sat back and waited for the end. Surprisingly we reached the border, only to see the last bus driving away as we arrived! After a quick walk into Cambodia (not many people get the fine oppurtunity to cross by foot) we were glad we were still alive with all of our organs! "Luckily" more like rather conveiniently our newly made friend had some of his friends who were our last and expensive option to the next town. Arriving in Stung Treng we had accomodation for the night, dinner and drinks for $20.00 and then were yet again back on a bus at 7:00am the next morning. We were just glad to finally be in Cambodia!!!
L&R
