Memo to Self: ‘Keep
Right Stupid’. Yes, here in Laos they like to drive on the right side of the
road. Riding on the right isn’t a challenge, it’s forgetting to ride on the
right that seems to create the problems. Hopefully I’ll remember and not become another
painted outline on the road.
Vientiane is a great city, but leaving it is easy, Highway
13 North. The roads are busy, busier than I can ever remember. Congestion, lots
of cars, many of them shiny and new. Billboards to the side of the road explain
why. ‘Cars 4 Cash’ - ‘Cash 4 Cars’ – ‘No
Deposit + Easy Payments’. The world of Easy Credit has arrived here in Laos
and I’m suddenly feeling like the poorest kid in town. Laos is starting to mirror Thailand, but with longer skirts and slightly shorter smiles. Even the rural farmers
are the same. Each and every one of them is a pyromanic with a penchant for setting fire to anything that’ll
burn. I twist the throttle wide open and try to outrun the choking smoke, but
all I seem to get is a lot more noise. It’s another 150Km to Vang Vieng, but
fortunately I’ve got a 30 Day Visa .... No need to hurry.
The
density of buildings reduces and the road imperfections increase, but the
Suzuki Smash just seems to fart along like a vegetarian grandmother. Random detours
down sandy tracks and across bridgeless streams add interest to a maximum speed
of 80Kph and away from the tarmac, the Suzuki starts making me smile and
reminding me that I’m free. All is good in the world.
Vang Vieng is an interesting town with a local populous of
older grandparents and younger kids, and a tourist population of twenty-something
Europeans who appear to be strangers to grooming. I feel like the oldest Farang
in town riding the slowest scooter in Laos, and it's probably true. Vang Vieng
reminds me of Goa thirty years ago, but without the beach and the blow. It’s a
good place to kick-back with cheap rooms, stunning views and a relaxed approach
to everything. Beyond the town, rough tracks lead to swimming areas, deep caves
and tall mountains. With a total disregard for Health & Safety, Kids jump
from high bridges into not so deep rivers below and European travellers swing from
high rock faces on unreasonably skinny ropes. But, nobody dies and everybody seems to smile.
At the side of every track, I find constant reminders that
life in Laos hasn’t always been quite so carefree. Shell casings litter the
area, hopefully dormant or defused, but there are no guarantees. During the
Vietnam War, the US dropped 280,000,000 bombs onto Laos, that’s 47 bombs for
every man, woman and child in the country, and according to the Mine Action Group, at least
20% of them failed to explode and many remain deadly to this day.
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