I could’ve easily spent longer in Luang Prabang, but there are few places so far where I haven’t felt that way. We drifted for 7 hours along the Mekong, before hopping off at an obscure stop that confused other backpackers continuing to the normal destination. We joined a few Lao families in a jumbo headed for Hongsa. After an awful drive to the waterfalls the day before, Dum stated optimistically, “I think this not be as bad as yesterday.” Five minutes into it, he corrected that prediction with “I think this bad more than yesterday.” For two hours, the passengers struggled to stay in the jumbo, and the jumbo struggled to stay in one piece. The price to pay for heading off the beaten path.

Once in Hongsa, we first stretched our legs, second found a guesthouse, and third ate what satisfied both lunch and dinner. Fourth, though now I’m only speaking for myself, was to see that same lunch and dinner a few hours later. Something seriously disagreed with me that night. Could it have been the cow hooves? The pig stomach lining? Or perhaps the “other small bird” that my companions couldn’t elaborate on. In any case, considering some of the other foods I’ve eaten, it’s remarkable that this was the first time in 4 months I got sick.

As I mentioned before, I had nothing to go on other than my little Lonely Planet. The night before we left, I studied the map and made an itinerary that would include as many of the guidebook’s highlights as possible. The remote villages of Hongsa were highly recommended, bonus points for an elephant trek through the jungle. Laos is known as “The Land of a Million Elephants,” after all.

Though I was still weak from a rough night, I mustered enough strength to cling to the chair atop a pudgy pachyderm. Maha and I sat like kings for the two hours, as our vehicle plowed through rainforest and navigated through towns. Afterwards, Dum joined us for a tour by foot. They used their Lao to get us into schools, hospitals, and homes.

Hongsa wasn’t easy to get to, and even harder to leave. Dum found a man making his weekly trip to Sainyabuli, and got us a nice cushioned spot between his sacks of rice for the 7 hours. But that was nothing compared to the 17-hour bus ride that followed. The “VIP” bus didn’t leave until later in the evening, so we settled for the regular one, comforted that it wasn’t packed full. I should’ve learned by now that these buses pick people up like a vacuum. Not only was every seat taken, but the one next to me was specifically sought out by a young boy wanting to practice English. He asked me the basics – where I’m from, where I’m going, how many people in my family, etc., and I admired his efforts to learn the language. But then he handed me a kid’s book, sitting awkwardly close in anticipation, to which I replied silently, “Making small talk is one thing, reading you bedtime stories is crossing the line.”

We got to Vientiane at 4 o’clock this morning. I would’ve slept for most of the ride if there hadn’t been music blasting for all 17 hours. We arrived too early to get out of the country, so we explored the oddities of the morning market for a while. Two more jumbos and a shuttle took us to the border, and, when it eventually opened, Loi was there waiting to take us to Udon.

Laos is definitely bigger than I thought, but in a week we made a nice loop around the north:

12/14 Arrived back in Bangkok from Africa
12/15 Flew from Bangkok to Udon Thani
12/16 Drove over to Laos, toured Vientiane
12/17 Route 13 to Luang Prabang
12/18 The monks, caves, and waterfalls of LP
12/19 Boat and jumbo to Hongsa
12/20 Elephant trek
12/21 Long trip back to Vientiane
12/22 Crossed the border once again, day in Udon

Although a lot of the time was spent in transit, those days are by no means a waste. In Laos, getting from Point A to Point B is arguably the best thing to do in the country. In a jumbo, in a bus, on a bike, or even by foot. Those journeys are as rewarding as they are exhausting. The horrible roads are proof that they’re not frequently traveled, as are the curious stares of hill tribe villagers

While I felt I saw a good amount in the past few days, an old drunkard at the bus station yesterday disagreed: “You haven’t seen Laos until you’ve slept with a Lao woman.”

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