Bus from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang

Once again, I’m going on a minivan full of tourists, this time from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. This time I booked it cause it was much faster than the bus and the timings suited me the most. I got the confirmation of it as we overtake some buses on the way.

They picked me up at the hostel in time and I was the last one to hop on the minivan. Just like other minivan journeys, this one was very boring. But it turned scary at some point. The major part of the way from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang is very bad. At some point terrifying. We are crossing a dirt path just next to the cliff, there is nothing separating us from the abysm as the minivan shakes from side to side on the bumpy and steep road. This part of the street was under construction I would say. Otherwise, it was just a way too big mess.
The journey in between mountains is beautiful and we can see the new Chinese project under construction. It is a highway that will connect China to Vientiane and I can see that a big part of it is already done. China is on its way to conquer the world as the Chinese are buying all major projects in poor countries that need foreign investments like Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. One day Laos will owe China the whole country and then Laos will turn into Chinese towns just like many places in Cambodia already are…- this is my own theory.

Anyway, the trip feels a long but we finally reach Luang Prabang about 4 hours later. And this was the weirdest last bus stop where I have been during all this time in Asia. Maybe because there was no bus stop. The minivan driver simply told us to leave the minivan, not very far from the city center, but in the middle of the street. It seemed like he just stopped somewhere randomly and dropped us off. There were no motorbikes, no tuk-tuks nothing on sight to help us reach our night stays. This would never happen if there were locals on board… That’s why I don’t like “only foreigners” journeys. They can scam us in 3,2,1.
This time I was actually willing to have someone driving me to my next stop. I was tired from the journey and I totally hate walking long distances with my backpack on. Having no other option, I needed to walk almost 30 minutes to reach the place where I will be unexpectedly spending 1 month due to COVID: Garden of Eden, the place where I will volunteer.