The bus rides from hell

[wayfaringwordhack]

That would be the Chiang Mai --> Chiang Khong route in Thailand, as well as the trip from Luang Prabang to Phonsavan in Laos.

Both of them lasted nigh on 8 hrs, and both were hell.

The first was largely because of the driver rather than the road. The driver, who shall forthwith be known as the Idiot, had no business being in possession of a license and absolutely no business whatsoever being "responsible" for tourists.

The Idiot was a brake-pumping, tail-gating, steering-wheel-jerking, law-breaking, cell-phone-blabbing menace. I kid you not, he spent 70% of an 8-hr drive on his phone. Even when we pulled up at the place where we were supposed to eat lunch, the Idiot, with the phone stuck to his ear, got out of the driver's seat, walked around the van, slammed open the passenger door, and walked off still blathering on his phone without telling us what the heck we were doing, how long we had, etc. (We all figured it was a lunch stop, but the building looked more like a hotel plonked down in the middle of nowhere.)

Six hours later, at our hotel, repeat scenario. No one knew where we were, if we were all supposed to get out, etc. etc., but the Idiot couldn't be bothered to respond. It was basically, "Get your bags and get lost; I need to get back to Chiang Mai."

The Luang Prabang-Phonsavan driver was a little more serious--I mean by that that he didn't talk on his phone. He did however seem to take particular delight in passing cars in blind curves on a very steep, windy road. He also had the brake-pumping, steering-wheel-jerking problem.

Not a good time to be carsick, let me tell you... Poor Julien. I was not a fun traveling companion.

He had pity on me, and instead of taking an 11hr bus from Phonsavan to Vientiane, we flew. And tomorrow, instead of an overnight bus to Hanoi, back to the airport we go.

Amen for technology. And um, sorry for the planet. :(

Comments

[mindseas.livejournal.com]

I've always regarded bus rides with trepidation.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

And I, too, but I had pretty much gotten over it in Peru. However, it has been all downhill from there, or after the ride to Santiago, Chile rather.

[clarentine]

In the past year, I've started riding the commuter bus in from my western suburb to downtown for work. I still dislike traveling in conveyance with that many strangers...and now I have firm evidence to back up why. *g* And mine aren't even really crowded buses in third world countries! You (and Julien) have my sympathies.

Here's a question for you (well, prefaced by some observations): in Central America (and probably South America, and lots of other places), mass transit between communities is by bus; pack up your kiddies and your livestock and your mail, and away you go. In the Caribbean, it's the mailboat. Maybe some places, it's a train. On these buses you've described, are you stuck in with the mail and the chickens? Or are your fellow passengers other tourists?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

It depends. Sometimes we are with locals, sometimes not. Yesty, we happened across a guy who was with us in Phonsavan. We flew here to Vientiane, but he took the bus. Apparently it was more of the "local" bus type. The trip took 11.5 hrs, largely because the chauffeur treated the van like his ambulatory business, buying possums here, selling them their, doing the same with fruits and vegetables. Also, one lady needed a cellphone charger, so the driver took her around to three different shops in own town so she could find one.

[clarentine]

Ugh! Good thing you opted for the plane.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

That was my sentiment upon hearing of his adventures.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

*nods*
First time I was ever car sick was in Malaysia.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Oooh, you just convinced me not to go to Malaysia!

[frigg.livejournal.com]

lol...well, to be fair we were on our way to Genting Highlands and the road there just goes round and round and round.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

NO round and round roads for me, thanks.

[pjthompson]

The planet will survive. You, otoh, might not have. :-)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thanks for taking my side. If you read my comment to Chris on this same post, you'll see what we missed by not taking the bus. :P

[pjthompson]

Flying sounds like it was a brilliant idea. Urgh.