Highway to Hell / Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang, Laos

I know I've been spoilt. Spoilt by efficient, fast and convenient public transport in China. How do I know this? Because transport in Laos is different. For starters I was used to saving lots of time by taking over-night trains and buses. Here, I has to find out, there are only day-time buses that take a lot of time. But now I also know why this is.
I had already got a taster just after leaving China. Just after the border my tuk tuk stopped and we got out. The hill side next to the round had come down in a mudslide and blocked the road. Drivers in both directions had left their vehicles and were inspecting the state of affairs. But what might have major distress in other countries was taken in with great ease here. Nothing to be done. We have to wait. Fortunately, then we'd been near other settlements and a tuk tuk driver on the opposite side was willing to split with mine and take me further. With a bus this is a different story. I won't even go into detail about the several places where the road had been washed away leaving only a big gaping hole in the asphalt and a 20-meter drop. The first major obstacle we hit was another mudslide. The road was completely blocked. It had happened in a village and several houses had also been buried. It looked fresh, scary and the remaining hill side unstable. Fortunately for us a digger was already on the scene clearing the road. A few hundred kilometers and millions of potholes and stomach bending curves later it had got dark. We stopped. Lots of trucks and other vehicles were standing on the road not moving. Drivers and passengers had got out, looked like they were preparing to camp here. What was the matter? I went to check for myself. The road, it turned out, was flooded almost waist-deep. Small cars and motorcycles had no chance here. I was getting worried. We didn't know how far it was still to Luang Prabang and this looked difficult. I really didn't want to spend the night on the bus. Finally, after long consideration the driver told people to take their things out of the luggage compartments at the bottom of the bus, moving them into the bus. We were going in. Slowly the bus moved into the water. We were amphibious. The water came up almost halfway up the side of the vehicle. Please, I prayed, let's not get stuck here now. Finally, the water became lower and we emerged. The engine hadn't drowned, we hadn't got stuck. My prayers had been answered. After a total of nine (instead of seven or six) gruelling hours we arrived in Luang Prabang only to find guesthouses full because of bad weather. But at least there was the chance of a bed and a shower.
One poor girl on the bus even had a harder time than everyone else. I had thought locals were tough and could take the roads. Not so. She kept throwing up during the whole trip. Again and again. During breaks she looked really miserable. I pitied her. Motion sickness medicine which is common in China now hasn't arrived here yet. Poor thing. I hope she doesn't have to do it again soon.
Roads here sure are an adventure.