Tours 5+
Worst Journey by Bus
Kunming, China to Luang Prabang, Laos
It's funny how most of my worst bus rides have been in China. Hehe. This trip consisted of two buses (in China) and two minivans (in Laos). One of the buses in China was another one of those sleeper buses I vowed I would never take again (above photo). But as I had no choice, I just had to deal with it. Actually, this one was quite an improvement over the first sleeper I took in China – at least the bed was more comfortable.
On the Laos side, we encountered some roads that were, shall I say, somewhat unimproved, as you can see in the photo below. At times, the van was sliding sideways, with tires spinning, virtually out of control. But in the end, we made it safely to Luang Prabang... just in time for Pi Mai Lao* (Lao New Year)!
* That is not a type-o. The country we westerners call "Laos" is actually the Lao PDR (Lao People's Democratic Republic), though there's nothing democratic about it. From what I understand, the "s" in Laos originated during French "rule", wherein they referred to Lao people as "Laos" (using the plural form).
