petrol stations

The bus rides in South East Asia, especially in Lao, are a proof of one's patience. They take not only an unpredictable number of hours on the road but also an undetermined number of waiting hours before the bus departs.

One must arrive at the bus station at least one hour and a half before the scheduled departure time. Buses are always packed with people and they sell tickets not only for the number of seats on the bus but also for an undetermined number of places on plastic chairs, placed in the middle alley, and any spare spaces on the floor or on bags and any pieces of luggage. The price for any ticket, no matter where you finally travel, is exactly the same. Therefore you arrive one hour and a half beforehand.

After all the waiting at the station, when one hears the engine start, one thinks the journey is starting but there's one more step to take. The petrol station. No matter where you are or where you come from or where you're heading to, the first stop is always the petrol station. This is usually a few metres away from the bus station what always makes me wonder why they do not bother to go before all the passengers have boarded the bus. My guess is because they use all the money from the passengers' tickets to fill up the tank.