The Sleeper Bus

North, north, must go NORTH!

The bus from Pakse to Vientiane is a night bus. One can choose the 'sitting' or 'sleeping' bus.

Well, after being told the bus offices didn't open til 8... and trying numerous times (at 6.. and finally convincing him to call 5 mins before 8)... Marie and I were told the bus was sold out. So we took a morning walk to the bus station. From there we thought we had only one option: the dreaded sitting bus. But, we could see the diagram and we were going to pick the best seats! Instead, we found another company that still had a bed... and spent 20000 extra kip (about $3) on the bed!! And then wasted the day in Pakse... cuz everything was still closed.

The sleeper bus! Turns out, you get to SHARE a bed thats about 2/3 the size of a twin! I had 9 and Marie had 8... we assumed they would've assigned us to the same bed. I got on and said "9" and this Laotian guy got really excited and said "you 9, I 10, you 9, I 10." He was excited that we were going to share a bed for the night. Instead I walked past him and told Marie, "whoever has the 7 to your 8 gets to be 9!" and promptly sat down with her on the bed. It turned out fine as they kept moving everyone around to be with the friends, etc.

So that night I must've had something that told guys to hit on me. While we were waiting for the bus this guy kept hitting on me. It was great and funny. He kept saying "you speak Laos, I no speak English." And then he'd attempt to teach us a few words in Laos. Because Brett and Marie were sharing a beer we HAD to cheers a gazillion times (that is a huge thing in Laos!) well, I wasn't drinking so he took my water and opened it and made me cheers too. And he kept refilling my cup if I drank it. I had to hide it because I didn't want to have to use the loo on the bus! He was trying to find it... it was great... and he was trying to get me to go home with him and hang out in Pakse for a few more days.. and not get on the bus! Then all 3 of the guys that worked on the bus kept giving me the same smile and look. Now Marie is a gorgeous, skinny Dutch girl...who should've gotten all the attention and normally did... but that night they all seemed to hit on me. It gave us a good giggle, guy after guy smiling.

Back to the night bus. Brett had given us a 'sleeping pill' and I decided I'd take it and pray it worked. Well, Marie who didn't take one slept like a baby for the whole 11 hours. I, on the other hand who took the pill, didn't sleep for more than 30 mins. I had decided to sleep 'head to toe' so we'd have more wiggle room (we had to have our daybags on our seats and so our feet had to be ontop of them) which was good. Except at one point Marie's feet were in my face... and I kept shoving them... but she didn't budge. I just turned over and tried to fall asleep. I kept setting my sleep timer on my ipod for 60 mins praying i'd be asleep... and getting sad each time I had to turn it back on! Well, I'd FINALLY fallen asleep about 445 when about 30 mins later I got my shoulder pounded on! The lovely, nice bus guys hadnded me both our wet wipes. How nice but seriously, you could've pounded on and woken up Marie who got to sleep for the last 45 mins until arrival!!!

Once in the Capital we took a tuk tuk across town to the Northern Bus terminal and caught a local bus to Vang Vieng. Luckily, I got a seat...Marie was stuck on a plastic stool (they line the middle of the bus between the rows with these). On this 5 hour bus ride, I had the BEST 10 min nap! Literally, it revived me for the day!