Sunday, April 27, 2008

Take the Long Way Home

This morning, I found myself walking across the dry rice patties before 7am, starting my journey onwards, intent on heading as far south as I could reach in a day. Fortunately, I was immediately picked up by a sawngthaew headed for Na Hin, one hour away on a dirt road. By the time we reached the town, both I and my belongings were covered in a thick layer of dirt. This is why...

In Na Hin, I tried to find out where to catch a bus to Tha Khaek, but couldn't find anyone that understood me, so I hopped into another sawngthaew that was headed that way. It turned out to be a four hour journey on hard benches, crammed between people and produce. One woman boarded with practically an entire store. This is actually a fun way to travel for about three hours. The last hour is painful.

We, of course, had a flat tire and while we were standing on the side of the road, the bus I had wanted passed us. Just a little frustrating. By the time we reached Tha Khaek, I had missed the bus to Pakse. I had another 3.5 hours until the next bus, so I chained my backpack to a bench and took a nap.

The bus was full and became incredibly packed when we departed Savannakhet several hours later. I had a real seat towards the back, but they lined the aisle with little plastic stools right up to the front. Then they continued to add more people who had to stand at the front, including a family with small children and a man on crutches. There is no such thing as a full bus in Laos.

In the aisle next to me, was the resident comedian who welcomed each new person to the bus enthusiastically, clearly joking about the lack of free space. As it grew late, I tried to get some sleep, but this same man kept trying to cram a pillow under my head.

On the bus, I had met an Israeli couple, which was fortunate because we pulled into Pakse at 1am and I would not have wanted to wander the lonely streets by myself. We struggled to find an open guesthouse, nearly resigning ourselves to sleeping on the porch of one, when we found someone who told us about a place with an open gate. It was nearly 2am when we walked in and rung the bell, waking the proprietor, who seemed all too happy to have the business.

It was a heck of a commute today.

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