Laos through a bus window

Today marks what we hope will be our last long bus ride as we head north to Luang Namtha. This journey takes us through the mountains, so it’s going to take a while to get there. There are no VIP buses on this route, and minivans only run sporadically. Until now, we’ve been following a pretty popular travel route through Laos, but we’re starting to veer off the beaten path. We’re on a local bus for 9 hours, costing us 105,000 kip (about 55 DKK). Yes, it’s incredibly cheap, but it takes ages to cover just a few kilometers. The average speed is around 40-60 km/h. But hey, it gives us plenty of time to soak in the stunning scenery and enjoy the many mountains around us. We see a lot of locals building their homes right at the edge of the road, which is only a couple of meters wide. This means that just behind their bamboo houses, there’s a steep mountain slope. The reason for this location is a mystery. Many of them have a little shop in front of their house, selling to the passing cars. At least they have the best view of the mountains, and often there’s a river nearby where they can wash clothes and take a bath. We frequently spot people bathing in the river or kids playing in the water as we drive by. Even though they’ve chosen to live in the middle of nowhere in a simple bamboo hut, they still have satellite dishes. Yep, technology has made its way to Laos. At one point, the bus suddenly stopped at the roadside, and we were allowed to hop out and relieve ourselves on the mountainside. Of course, all the men took advantage of that. Now we know for sure that no one washed their hands on the bus. Yum :) Otherwise, the bus made two stops at a “rest area” so we could stretch our legs. It’s winter in Laos, and we see people wearing hats and gloves in the mornings in these higher regions. For us, it feels like a cool summer morning in Denmark :) Laos continues to surprise us. Our hotel room costs just 6 dollars. We hadn’t eaten much during the day since we didn’t want to have to use the toilet on the way. Often, those toilets are a grim and smelly experience. We really went for it at dinner. We ordered 3 main dishes, a large bottle of water, a banana shake, and a beer that’s the size of 3 Danish beers. All for just 6 dollars.