We spent 2 days in Kunming, and from there we decided to take the bus to Luang Prabang.

The tickets were cheap, RMB348 each, considering this is a 1100 km journey. When we booked the tickets we knew we were going to travel on a sleeping bus, as the trip takes about 25 hours.

In my head, I created an idea of what this bus would be like, as I had never being on a sleeping bus before. I didn't expect it to be the most comfortable or spacious bus, but I had an idea of what it would look like.

Last day in Kunming, everything packed and we were ready to get on the road. I remember while we were on the metro, I was very excited about the journey. Pace was playing his harmonica and I was imagining how everything was going to be from that moment on.

We arrived at the bus station around 3pm, and our bus time was at 6:30... So we sat outside, and spent some time drawing, playing music...
While waiting, we decided to get some snacks for the trip, but there weren't too many options, besides some cookies or the Chinese favorite, chicken feet... Finally we came across some Vietnamese tiny coconut cakes and some sweet potato chips.
Around 5:30 we went looking for our bus, and well we found it... And I have to confess that I almost turned around and run as fast as I could. We got on the bus, and I was completely chocked.... It looked nothing like I had pictured it. It looked old, dirty, unsafe... The beds were tiny metal structures with a thin small mattress on it. I started thinking if I really wanted to go on a trip for 25 hours on that bus, it looked very scary at first.



Pace started to calm me down, and I started feeling very silly once I realized that people travel like that everyday or even in worst conditions, and that for most of them, getting on that bus means spending a lot of money.



Once we got on the road, I was a lot calmer and had accepted what was in front of me. We talked for while, watched the Chinese roads, the endless number poly tunnels green houses, the mountains... We also watched the french movie "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly", which we highly recommend.

Around midnight I woke up and realized that the bus was parked somewhere, and everyone was sleeping, including the driver. We stayed there around 5 or 6 hours.

The more we got close to Laos the more scenery around us changed... The roads started winding through the hillsides and becoming less maintained.

Going through the border in the morning was easy and quick. We got our Laotian visas at the Lao border within 15 minutes.

Chinese border

Laos border

Most people who visit Luang Prabang fly there, but I am very glad we took the bus as i got to see and experience a lot. Once we were in Laos, Pace told to pay attention to everything I would see on the way to Luang Prabang, and now I understand why.



We were surrounded by jungle, mountains and bumpy roads, not much else around and some hours away from the nearest town, but every few kilometers there would be small villages or just some wooden shacks near the road and the local people living very simply, with very few resources. Small children playing by themselves next to the roads, happy with the little they have as they don't know anything out of that environment.

Most of these little houses don't have electricity and I saw some kids taking a "shower" outside, with cold water, probably. The people in those villages live off the most basic things, growing their own food, and having no easy access to anything away from there. It seems almost like they are isolated from everything else.



It was something very new to me, I've seen poverty, a lot of it in my country, but this was something else. It made me think a lot about social differences, especially coming from fashion industry where material things defines people and money is the driving force for happiness.

After 25 hours, we arrived in Luang Prabang, a place very different from these villages on the mountains, but that's a topic for our next post...