A Room with a View

15th November 2012

Yet again Stray has managed to mess us around. This morning we arrived at our pick up point, ready to set off on the next adventure but there was no big orange Stray bus. We waited for a few minutes and then began boarding an unmarked mini-bus. I wasn't too worried at this point so I threw my rucksack in and found two seats for Rory and I. However, within seconds I had someone telling me to scoot up. Apparently there were thirteen passengers, including our driver, Stray guide and local guide but we were on a twelve seater bus. I may not be the best at maths but even I can see the problem here – we were one seat short which meant that Rory and I were stuck in the back row, sharing with two people instead of one. When I asked why the big orange Stray bus hadn't picked us up I was told that it hadn't been sent because there weren't enough people. So basically, instead of sending and eighteen seater bus for thirteen people, they sent a twelve seater bus and I was stuck sharing a seat. I can't even begin to describe how infuriating this was, especially after Rory and I were turned away from a “full” bus and left in a border town with no transport. Stray couldn't squeeze us in then but they were perfectly happy to do it today if it meant saving them a few pounds on petrol. I paid 100% of my bus pass and so feel that I deserve 100% of a seat – that doesn't seem too demanding, does it?

So there we have it, I was stuck, probably illegally, on a seven hour bus journey through the windy, bumpy roads of Laos. I wasn't pleased or comfortable but we did stop on the way so at least I got some  nice views out of the trip!

This was the view from the squat toilet!

We eventually made it to Vang Vieng and checked into our Stray recommended accommodation. We were paying 60,000Kip per-night which isn't too expensive but the room was pretty bleak. It was musty, the sheets were dirty and the balcony overlooked the crowded streets below. Despite this I took out my laptop to find some Wifi but instead discovered that there is no power in Vang Vieng from 9am-5pm over the next few days. Not sure how to entertain myself in an un-airconditioned, dark, smelly room, Rory and I went for a walk and with our fellow couple travellers, looked at a few guest houses. What we found was really something. For 80,000Kip per-night we could have a double room with, fan, balcony and mountain views and they even had their own generator and therefore electricity all day. The choice was simple, we rushed back to our previous hostel, grabbed our stuff and promptly checked in to our room with a view!

Rory and I also embraced our inner travellers; he got a tank top and I got some fake Ray Bans to match my groovy traveller trousers! We headed out to dinner with our fellow travellers and even met up with the rest of the Stray bus in the busiest bar in town – the Irish bar!