Lao Roads Part 2

It was two days after Arno had left, that I sat waiting for A Nong and eager to leave. I had rested long enough now and felt refreshed. The only thing that could have been better was my back, that had been bothering for a week now after I pinching a nerve and so far neither the tiger balm plasters nor a massage had helped for me to fully recover. A Nong was supposed to get off work at 4 p.m. and we would try to make the 200 kilometers to Luang Prabang in about 5 hours, as the first half of the way was supposedly in a bad shape, while the other half was good. I hated driving in the dark in such a country with strolling dogs and occasional missing road parts, but I didn't need to spend another night in the small town and the wedding would commence the next day.


The going was slow the first ninety kilometers as the road was no better than it had been coming from the north. Many potholes and rough unpaved sections didn't really make driving much of a pleasure. The road was winding as an accumulation of sharp curves and steep slopes around the mountains surrounding Oudom Xai. Passing cars meant being patient, sometimes waiting twenty minutes stuck behind a bus before being able to use a short bit of road to attempt a half suicidal passing maneuver, as usually the cars in front would just drive in the middle of the road unless traffic was approaching fron the front.


Then we came to an intersection just as darkness set in. We had a rest and a meal before we went on and now the road was much better. I felt like racing through the dark, the curves were much wider so I could take them in full speed and there were also many straight bits. At night passing cars was much easier as well as their lights could be seen clearly even behind a curve or a hill. That way, we needed less than 2 hours for the last 110 kilometers.


Arno had described the place of his guest house and we found it quickly as A Nong knew the town well. I didn't need to know the room number as it wasn't hard to find Arno who was surfing in the internet cafe right next to his guest house. An hour later, after going to A Nongs place to unload the bags, we met with Arno again to go to a night club. A friend of A Nongs joined us and the four of us started into the night.

The club had a good crowd already, but noone was dancing. That was unlike the night clubs we had been to before. We ordered some Coke and stood by a table next to the dancefloor waiting for that to change, but finally, we had to initiate the change ourselves. Still, too many people would stay stuck at their tables and the place would just not start rocking. A bit disappointed, we left. A Nong had come up with the idea of bowling and everyone was in for it. We just had no idea of what we were getting into.


We arrived at the bowling club and parked next to the many minibuses waiting for customers in the front. The place was packed and there was a constant flow of people still arriving. We had no real chance of getting a lane and the place seemed to be little more than the last resort after all the bars had closed down as there was a curfew in Laos for them. A Nong tried desperately to hook up with some people already at a lane so we could join in, but that took her a long time, and when we finally got in, it didn't seem much fun playing with six other, mostly completely drunk strangers. It just wouldn't turn out to be a fun night, so we left the place to go home. The wedding would start the next day, though not in the morning, but rather late afternoon.