Paddy's day without a drop of alcool

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  Paksan, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, March 17, 2008

We had been warned that not many people do the (supposedely) 8 hour journey from Phonsavan to Paksan, the road being so bad..All we hoped for was a bus, and not a truck, so we were ecstatic when we were pointed to what looked like an ancient but reliable bus..The road was a dirt track but it was fine for a while, we were just covered in dust.. And then the bus stopped.. There was an overturned lorry on the road, blocking all traffic.Everyone got off their trucks and helped dig a new path, off a cliff! some small trucks were the firsts to go through and it was nerve racking to watch, they all swung from one side to the other and everyone was shouting..
Our bus driver tried to go through but backed down at the last minute. He said it was too narrow. We thought we'd have to hitch a lift back to Phonsavan, but then a big truck went through and our driver's ego was hurt..
We all got off the bus and he tried a second time and then we were through!
We were all happy for another 5 hours, and then , at 7pm, our bus just stopped. No fuel and a problem with the clutch!
After 2 hours trying to fix it, we finally managed to drive slowly, and we arrived in Paksan at 11pm..
We were 'orange' from the dirt, and exhausted, so we forgot to celebrate paddy's day..

The next morning we discovered a huge black bear in a tiny cage, just outside our room...Weird.

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