On our second day of driving I notice that I haven’t seen any sign of industry beyond tourism, building and vehicle maintenance. Shops that sell basic foodstuffs like rice, vegetables and meat are conspicuous by their absence. Presumably most of Laos’ populace is self sufficient for food. Farm animals wonder around freely, be they cows, goats, pigs or chicken. I am confused by how ownership is decided.
I should say that we have not visited Laos’ capital Vientiane on this journey, and I am going only on what I saw. Also, while the people are poorer on average than in China, they generally seem happy enough and it’s not as if they are in a state of desperation, as many are in India, for instance.
We eventually get to the Vietnam border late in the day. The truck is not allowed to enter, so we have to use public transport or taxis throughout Vietnam. While the crossing does not take long as we don’t have to wait for the truck to inspected, and also the border officials probably want to go home, it is dark by the time we get through.
On the Vietnam side of the border, we cram ourselves into two minibuses. Some of the locals try to get in to get a free lift to the next town, but there is no room, and we have to tell them to get out. Our destination, Hué, is still a few hours away and the drive is predictably hairy with our drivers driving blind on the wrong side of the road going around bends. We survive, however, to arrive at Hué at about 10:30 at night.
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