Nose to the north

Heading northwards now, the bus was full and the conductor had to clamber over passengers sitting on sacks and bags in the aisle.  

At first we passed through flat countryside with rice paddy fields but soon we started to climb into the mountains, passing little huts on stilts as we zigzagged higher and higher.  

Finally we descended to reach the town of Vieng Vang with its surrounding karst formations.

Although I’m having a really grand time on this trip I’m a little disappointed that I still haven’t met a single donkey on our travels.  Perhaps one reason is the presence of the ubiquitous Laos tractors.  The locals manage to modify them in ingenious ways to perform many of the tasks that we donkeys would tackle in other countries. But, hey, they're not as good looking and clever as we are!