Nong Khiaw to Vientiane

Laos – November 2022

One of my favourite destinations in Southeast Asia is Nong Khiaw in northern Laos. Its main appeal is the remote location in the jungle, however, this also makes getting there quite an adventure. The 4-hour minibus ride from Luang Prabang was quite alright, but let me take you with me for the return trip. It all begins on the day of our arrival, when I want to buy a ticket from the „bus station“. Instead of someone sitting at the desk in the small booth, there is just a paper stapled to the window stating that the opening hours are only from 8 to 10 in the morning.

When we‘re walking around town, we learn that there are several resellers, so the tourists don‘t have to make the 15-minute walk to the station. But of course, that service comes at an extra charge, and who knows if you actually end up with a seat. So the next day, while Nerea, José and I enjoy our day trip to Muang Ngoy, Judith heads to the station to buy our tickets to Luang Prabang. As she didn‘t feel well since the day before, she decided to rest in Nong Khiaw. And I am very grateful she did. Anyway, she gets me the ticket for the earlier bus scheduled for 8 am, so I can make the connection to the high-speed train leaving Luang Prabang at 2 pm.

I get up early and try not to wake Nerea, as she takes the later bus and has another hour to sleep. I order breakfast and am eating on our terrace when the three Spaniards come outside to say goodbye. When their toasts and fruit arrive, I finally get up to leave. On my short walk to the bus, I pass a couple of local men aggressively scrubbing a wooden boat. I recognize the sound that woke me at 6 am the day before and am astonished by their endurance. When I finally get to the station – 15 minutes before the planned departure time – there are only 2 other tourists waiting to get their backpacks strapped to the roof of the minibus.

I check in at the counter, where there is now a man sitting with a yellow paper in front of him. He is smoking a long cigarette. I tell him my name, and he places a checkmark next to it. I‘m number 2 on the list and therefore get seat number 2. He gestures to me to bring my luggage to the driver who will fix it on the roof. Then I take my designated seat and watch the other passengers arrive. Just when all the seats are occupied, 3 Israeli travellers arrive, whom we‘ve seen 2 days before at the Indian restaurant in town. They have a big argument with the guy at the ticket office because they insist that they bought the ticket two days earlier in order to make sure they have a seat.

However, neither the ticket guy nor the driver is impressed, as the seats are assigned upon checking in. And they are the last to do so and therefore have to take a seat on the empty beer BOXES placed in the aisle. It‘s 30 minutes past the scheduled departure time and the driver and ticket guy are now starting their own argument, as there seems to be an issue with the fares paid. Several passengers (including me) begin to worry about making the connection for the train to Vientiane. Finally, the driver gets in, starts the rumbling motor and we are leaving paradise behind.

We only make a few stops on the way. Once to pick up a local girl, who‘s now sitting on the pillow placed in the front window next to the steering wheel. Any other people flagging down the bus at the side of the road are being ignored by the speeding driver. He expertly navigates around the sea of potholes and only reluctantly stops when a French guy asks for a pee stop. During that stop, I chat with a Belgian girl who tells me that she too wants to take a train today, but for Vang Vieng. I inform her, that the train usually sells out 2 days in advance, and that the station is quite far from the center. I end up arranging the ticket for her through Whatsapp, by messaging my agency in Luang Prabang. I located them to be the cheapest of all resellers. So the Belgian girl and I stick together, as we‘re transferring to Tuktuks taking us from the northern bus stop to the city center. We pick up our tickets at the local agency and then go for lunch at a restaurant across the street. I just unpacked my fried rice, when the agent screams at me from the other side of the road and asks me to get into the car.

It‘s still 20 minutes before the arranged departure time for the transfer to the train station, but I guess I don‘t have a choice. So I join the one other passenger in the minivan, and we go on a cruise around town to pick up all the other people who have bought their train tickets through this agency. By now I‘m pretty exhausted and don‘t question anything anymore. Once at the station, I still have 1 hour till the train leaves. So I sit on a bench outside the giant train station and finally eat my delicious fried rice. Then, I use the spotless restroom and get some water from a free dispenser inside the station.

Once the boarding gate is opened, I step out onto the platform alongside some Buddhist monks, many Laos people, and some other Western travellers. I recognize some of the people from my minibus, but I‘m too tired to talk to anyone now. I just want to get on the train. And that I do. I drop my big backpack next to the door and scramble through the packed aisle to look for my assigned seat. When I finally reach my row, there are already 2 Chinese men and 3 Lao people sitting in the 6-person compartment. According to my ticket, I have the window seat. But of course, the only seat still available is the middle one.

I shove my ticket with the number into the guy‘s face who‘s sitting on my seat and for a brief moment contemplate fighting for my comfortable window seat. However, I quickly realize that there is little hope and decide to accept the kind Lao lady‘s offer, when she moves over to give up her aisle seat. The 3-hour ride is almost worse than the minibus from Nong Khiaw. My exhaustion doesn‘t go well with the Chinese guy screaming on the phone and some other people in the car eating questionable meals for a good portion of the trip.

When I finally arrive in Vientiane, it‘s already dark outside and I dread having to look for transportation to make it downtown. However, this somehow turns out to be the easiest part of the trip so far. By intuitively following the local crowd, I end up at the bus that‘s already ready for departure to the city center and quickly get on. I’m so happy to have almost reached my destination, that I can only laugh at the fact that the bus driver is on a video call during the entire ride. I pay the low fee to the conductor when disembarking and easily find my way to the hostel I‘ve already stayed at 2 weeks earlier. There I quickly buy my ticket for the night bus to Pakse for the next evening and once in my dorm, immediately fall asleep.