Project Phongsali 2011: Finally underway, we make slow time but enjoy sights and scenery.

Week One

Day Three:

Our planned departure at the crack of dawn was, of course, delayed until 8:00 a.m., … then 8:30 a.m., … then 10:00 a.m., … then Yai asked for another hour, maybe an hour and a half. In the end, we left town in the early afternoon. We drove slowly uphill to go easy on fuel, and then slow on the downside as well, since we didn’t trust our whistling breaks.

Every time we turned the air conditioner on our engine temperature gauge spiked, so we opted to drive through the dust and heat with the windows down and the air con off.

About the time I was starting to feel road weary and sorry for myself, we came upon a truck carrying elephants. To keep the elephants calm, the two mahouts were making their journey on the backs of the animals. The sight put my discomfort in perspective and brought my dad’s words to mind: “No matter how rough you think you have it, there’s somebody, someplace, who’s got it worse than you”.

We gave Vang Vieng a miss. Yai and I agreed that this backpacker paradise, once a favorite stop, no longer merits even a lunch break from us. This once charming town, in a beautiful setting, has been so corrupted by the worst kind of tourist traffic that it would only pain me to bear witness to it. Unlike previous generations of travelers who passed through Vang Vieng, few of today’s backpackers trek to distant waterfalls, caves and ethnic villages. Instead they come for boisterous music, free-flowing beer, and easy access to drugs. For an athletic change of pace, they head for boozy fun at the rope swings and tube runs on the river.

We arrived in Luang Prabang well after dark, grabbed rooms at the first guest house we passed, and settled for old, cold rice at the last open food stall at the southern bus station.