Vientiane to Phonsavan Highway 13 & Highway 7

We left Vientiane a day earlier than we had planed because...well, because Vientiane was a little bit of a non event. Nothing against the place, but it didn’t have anything to entice us to stay more than a day. Apparently he highlight of the Laos National Museum were the socks worn by revolutionary leaders. The Mekong sunset bars and restaurants were obscured by bulldozers and trucks building a new levee. And we definitely didn’t fancy shooting rapids or trekking in the intense heat on a day trip. Finding a rat nibbled remains of one of our baguettes the next morning hastened us out of the rather grim Hotel Lao and into the 4x4 of Jai, our driver. We set off at 8am.

Vientiane’s quiet centre turned into a more turbulent and motor-scooter entangled outskirts as everyone did business and market runs before the heat of the day started to bear down. Soon after that the city disappeared and limestone hills appeared in the distance. This was Highway 13 which winds it’s way through a thousand curves to Vieng Vang, nestling at the foot of weirdly sculpted rocky escarpments.

On the way we had close shaves with:

cows
water buffalos
dogs
chickens
ducks & ducklings
small children wearing few clothes
one VERY stubborn goose who seemed to be taking on all comers

The traffic was not heavy and even though there were old buses and soon-to-be-pensioned-off tankers and trucks, it all felt very safe, due in no small part to Jai’s excellent driving.The road just seemed to climb and climb with switchbacks and hairpin bends that would send me flying from one side of the backseat to the other, crushing children in my wake. By 12:30 we had made it to Pu Piang Fah restaurant, perched at the highest point of our day’s journey near Phokoun. The lunchtime views were stunning.

Not long afterwards we turned on to Highway 7 which leads all the way to Vietnam. This road carried on the twists and turns and after some curry and sticky rice I was soon being lulled to sleep. I was roused from my reverie by Maisie being violently sick outside the car window. We stopped by a water stand to clear off the mess. The stand was also being used by an elderly gentleman wearing only a large amount of soap suds and electric blue underpants. This outraged Harry who uttered a “that’s revolting!” before Marcelle explained to him the luxury of having a bathroom. He then carried on listening to the Adam & Joe podcast, occasionally shouting out ‘idiothole!’ or some other charming epithet from the programme.

The way to Phonsavan was characterised by numerous Hmong villages that were clustered perilously close to both the road and the edge of the cliffs. There was plenty of produce on offer and we saw rice paddies, sweetcorn and rows of pineapples. The scenery was a curious mix of the familiar, and throughout the day we saw echos of the Alps, New Zealand, Northern Thailand and the Shire. After a nine hour drive we were ready for a rest and Jai brought us to the Anoulack Khen Hotel, very new and proudly boasting a lift! A small feast of baguettes, cheese and crisps and an episode of Doctor Who rounded the evening off as we will have an early start on the road to Hanoi.