Onwards to Vang Vieng....

Land slide...

                     The 8.00am big black 'VIP' (cargo down, passengers upper level) bus left  from the early morning hustle that is Luang Prabang southern bus station, NOT to be confused with the northern and central bus stations--how blessed can a town of pop.37000 be, to have three bus stations! It sure adds to tourist confusion! If you just ask for the bus station, the tuk tuk men will invariably sweep up the unsuspecting tourist to the furthers station & then helpfully extract a second fare to remedy the problem.
                 Within 500 metres of departure from Luang Prabang,

War & peace....

our VIP road cruiser entered the first hairpin bend as it commenced its climb southwards over the mountain ranges. It pays, I have found to sit three or four rows back, aisle seat, so that one can fix eyes on the road ahead. Many passengers who only use the side windows, are rapidly forced to use the little pink plastic bags kindly supplied by the bus operator.
                Our route to Vang Vieng (VV) today was blocked a couple of times for total delay of nearly an hour, by land slides that had buried the roads---in both cases, we were lucky that heavy earth moving equipment was already in place and well advanced in firming up a new surface for us and the backed up traffic, to lumber over. Yes, a major transport engineering problem for these SE Asian countries, as the mountains erode and there is ever increasing pressure to construct wider roads to accommodate the increasing vehicular loads. One feels that the cars will increase much faster than the roads over this very difficult terrain.
             I have noticed in Laos that there seems to be total absence of government presence after the border entry post, no policemen, soldiers or government propaganda bill boards---and yes, Laos is nominally a communist country--correct & full name, Peoples' Democratic Republic of Laos. Contrast with Vietnam, where the guiding hand of the Party appears everywhere. Like in all these communist nations, the private sector seems to have been given mostly free reign to efficiently meet the needs of peoples daily requirements.
   

Pleasant aspect. for village wat...

           Arrived in VV an hour late, at 3.30 pm and quickly located Jammee guest house, located at the edge of town on a quiet lane. Clean & adequate at $14 US/night. Apparently VV was infamous as a party town for young western rowdies. In 2012, the Lao authorities figured out that this was likely not the best target group to build revenue & employment for the locals and has reportedly been making efforts to emphasise environmental & cultural tourism.
             VV is most certainly worth a full day stopover to appreciate the dramatic scenery from the perspective deep in a wide valley on a river tributary of the Mekong. This elderly gentleman, in Tilley shorts and blue cap, no longer feels the urge to go kiacking, rock climbing or to whizz across the river attached to a rope & sling!! Did take to the toll bridge and spent time walking around the village on the 'other side' that tourists never seem to visit. Noted at the entrance to the wire suspension bridge, the interesting juxtaposition of 1970's US bombs planted in the ground alongside a Buddhist prayer table- War & Peace!
                    After just three weeks on the road, dodgy stomach struck this morning and I was forced to retreat to Jammee guest house to take care of matters for a couple of hours. Feeling better.