Hell, sorry Sam Neua to Nong Khiaw
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2011
1
190
297
Trip End
Dec 15, 2011
Where I stayed
Sunrise Guesthouse
Nong Khiaw, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The little bus is full of locals apart from me and Angela, some sit there holding cloth over their nose and mouth, some hack up a great gob of spit making a horrible noise as they do so then spit out the window, but most of them are asleep as they have little else to occupy them. A couple of women just tossed a plastic bag of rubbish out the window, and sure enough, as we drive along, there are plenty of non bio degradable bits of litter just sitting in the verges of the hills.
We pass by many huts clinging to the side of the hill with grubby looking children playing in the dirt, teenage boys in tight jeans and flip flops walking along the road and the occasional cow or buffalo wandering along which the driver has to beep at. One quite interesting thing is that for all that the people live in very basic wooden huts, nearly all of them have massive satellite dish sitting outside pointing at the sky, these things are at least a metre in diameter just stuck on a pole outside the house. Interesting!
19:17 We finally arrived at Nong Khiaw at 5.30, just 9.5 hours later. The weather has been mixed today and we saw some landslides which had brought mud and trees onto the road which we had to drive round.
We crossed the bridge of Nong Khiaw and got a bungalow at sunrise guesthouse overlooking the river, for just 50000 per night, so £1.90 for me per night. After dumping our bags we went down the road and found wifi (my god!) at the posh expensive bungalows in town. I'd just starting skyping my brother in law and the power went off, no more Internet. It stayed off for over 2 hours, so sorry Bloomy! That's why I never replied!
We moved to another restaurant opposite the guesthouse whilst it was still light enough to see and had dinner. I've spent much of the day reading The Pillars of the Earth on the bus and I'm really getting into it actually! I've also watched all of the english- 'The Office', god it makes me glad I'm not in dreary england sitting in a dreary office! For now at least, I know the time will come when I have to, but not yet. I've also got the US version, I've watched a couple of episodes but the humour isn't as good I think. Still, with 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' to bring more UK comedy to my world, things aren't all that bad today now that we have left hell. no really....just don't bother going to Sam Neua, unless going directly to Vieng Xai!
It was nice to settle into this tiny town amongst the limestone karsks again and feel a little closer to friendly people, because here they are actually friendly!
Best: Arriving in lovely little Nong Khiaw
Worst: worrying about escaping Sam Neua this morning
Beautiful: once again...the scenery on the way and the views here.
