Phonsovanh

I got to the bus station very early, and immediately grabbed a spot at the back, hoping the bus would be empty enough that I could lie down over all five seats.  As luck would have it, there were enough leftover seats that I didn’t feel too guilty taking up a bunch of them. 

The ride itself was bumpy, and winded itself back and forth through the mountains.  I couldn’t help but think of  New Zealand, with my waterbottle sliding back and forth on the dashboard.  The Laos countryside is amazing, and probably second to New Zealand, thus far.  I tried to take photos, but on the bumpy roads it was nearly impossible.  Riding shotgun on the bus was a guy carrying a kalashnikov rifle.  Apparently they’ve had problems with bandits on this route in the past.  I wasn’t sure if the guy toting Lao reassured me or worried me even more.

In Ponsovanh, I checked out a couple of places before settling on a room for the night.  I booked my tour to the Plain of Jars for the following morning, and grabbed some dinner. 

I stopped and checked out the MAG office, which is dedicated to clearing land mines in Laos (and elsewhere).  Laos is one of the heaviest bombed countries in the world, and there are still plenty of bombs and landmines lying around the countryside.  They were starting a movie on the project, so I watched that.

Heading back to my guesthouse, I ran into Louisa and Beth, who were eating dinner.  They were surrounded by two boys of about 8 years old, who were quite keen on having some of Louisa’s pizza.  Beth had already given them some salad.   They jumped back and forth and around us.  Louisa gave them the plate with the mushrooms she didn’t want, and the kids jumped in with gusto.  I didn’t get the feeling they were really starving, but who knows.  The kids didn’t speak much english, but enough for us to learn that their names were Chong and Do.  We tried to talk for a bit, but it wasn’t really getting anywhere.

We headed to another restaurant for a drink, and eventually ran into Chong and Do walking down the street.  I hollered at them to go to sleep, but I’m not sure they understood me.  Eventually Do mimed resting his head on the pillow and pointed off towards his house, so I think they were planning on going home anyhow.

Sleeping seemed like a good idea, so I bid Beth and Louisa (who were off to Vietnam in the morning) a good night, and headed to bed.