a foottit's tale

The journey from Vang Vieng (in Laos) to Luang Prabang (a large town north of Vang Vieng) was extremely winding, round green mountains that made it look a little like New Zealand. The road is called Route 13, and not for nothing. In recent years (although not in the last 2) vehicles have been attacked by armed gangs on this road and people (inc westerners) killed. Some say it’s politically motivated, so in theory tourist buses are safer, although others say its just ‘plain banditry’!
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We had decided to head up to Vang Vieng on the 8th October (you know how far behind we are in blogging now!) so the day before, I checked out the buses that went up there. The station we went to next to the market had all the local buses (which there was no way I was getting on!) and a couple of cheeky minibus owners tried to tell me there were no coaches up to Vang Vieng, which I knew wasn’t true.
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On leaving Nong Khai the four of us (us and our Canadian friends) got in two tuk tuks (ours looked like a wheel was about to fall off) and tootled our way to the border crossing to Thai immigration. As Chris said ‘we could almost feel the wind through our hair’ as cyclists over took us. These things are not build for sa-peed!
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