Northern Laos

(Written February 7)
Some things are worth the effort it takes to experience them, and the north of Laos is one of these. The roads alone are enough to frustrate you senseless. The steep breakpad-melting hills, endless potholes, and cramped conditions (the "busses" - little more than glorified pickup trucks - don't move until every last inch of space is taken up with people, rice, and chickens) generally make for long, tiring rides. 150 kilometres doesn't seem like much, until you've spent four hours with your face in a standing stranger's crotch and a snoring pig in a bamboo wicker cage under your feet.
Like I said though, it's worth it. Man, is it ever.
With incredible mountain views in nearly every town and village, it's a postcard waiting to be made everywhere you look. And then there're the rivers. It didn't take me long to decide that a bath taken in a river with a glorious view of surrounding mountains at sunset beats a cold shower in a mosquito-infested bathroom any day!
I've connected with a group of travellers (from France, Germany, Israel, Holland, and Belgium) on one of these bus rides between Vieng Khom and Vieng Thong and it looks like we're all heading the same way for a bit. East it is!