Feb 21 – Drive to Vang Vieng

Today is a driving day.  A lot of ground to cover to Vientiane.  The first part of the drive was typical of what we have see so far in Laos. 

A cemetery.

And roadside villages and lovely mountain vistas.

The road was pretty atrocious…large potholes, and in some places, particularly on the turns, there was almost no paved surface at all.  And one place where they washed trucks had a lot of water in the potholes. 

This route is the main route from China to Laos for the shipment of goods between the two.  So there are lots of heavy truck traffic.

We eventually saw a very large, somewhat isolated, mountain in the distance.  Most of the mountains in the area have no names but this one is Phou Pheing Fa, Sky Mountain.  After lunch the route took us much closer to the mountain.  We had a stop so that we could take photos.  It was breathtaking.

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Video of the mountains
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There were also a lot of smaller, jagged mountains in the background.  The views were hazy but beautiful.

From the stop we headed down on the long drive.  The scenery was magnificent…one of the most beautiful drives we have ever taken.  Too bad it was so hazy.  Plus the sun was in the wrong direction. We will have to come back on a morning in November, when the sun is behind us and the haze is gone.

Near the end of the drive the sun started moving to a better position so the lighting on the mountains was better. 

One set of mountains looked like the profile of a sleeping man’s face. 

Some sections had waves of pampas grass.

And of course, there were a lot of small shops along the route.

Some less dramatic but still beautiful mountains as we came down to lower elevations. 

We eventually made it down into the valley where there were lots of fields and terraces. 

We made a stop at a bridge with picturesque views down the river.

There were children playing in the river…

and people feeding lots of fish.

Our hotel that evening was in the town of Van Vieng, and the hotel and grounds were lovely.

Some lizards on the walls near the hotel.