6 January 2013
Today we have a long bus ride up and over the mountains and we are grateful that they have decided on hiring a private bus rather than us crowding in with the locals and their chickens on the public bus. We stop for lunch at a restaurant perched high on the hilltop at 2000m with spectacular views all round. Even the toilets have a spectacular view.
Little groups of houses perch precariously between the road and steep precipices. Children and animals race around seemingly without a care as vehicles speed by. The crops, trees and burning patches stretch down the steep slopes. As we wind our way down we see the houses gradually become more solidly built in more permanent materials as we get closer to the capital and then start to become larger and more cosmopolitan.
We stop in Viang Vien which is a little town that seems to embody the worst of all cultures. It is where hordes of drunken twenty-somethings traditionally went tubing down the river stopping at all the bars along the way. This activity has recently been stopped following some tourist deaths. Many bars have now closed and the town seems to still be working out why it exists. In fact the locals sensibly live some distance away. It appears to be predominantly backpackers but we watch hot air balloons float gently into the evening sky.
For this and other similar tours see:
Explore Asia with Intrepid Travel
(a range of different travel styles – see my post on travel styles)
Peregrine Adventures (Comfort tours)
Geckos Adventures (for 18 to 30s)
Note: After people telling me they had booked an Intrepid Tour on my recommendation, I now have affiliate links with the Intrepid Travel group of companies and may receive a commission if you book a tour online within a couple of months after clicking through to these sites. So if you are enjoying my tips and stories and finding them useful in choosing your own travel, please click on these links and help me to bring you more ☺.
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