on a laotian bus

The long, dusty and winding road from Huay Xay to Luang Nam Tha brings back memories of Burmese bus rides, though the Laotian ones are without music which makes them a little bit less intense.

Clouds of dust flying around the bus swallow us and wrap us up. Red, pink and white colours on both sides of the path. Red, pink and white covering all the shades of green, the green is not green any more.

The lady sitting next to me does not stop spitting out of the window. She does not talk. She does not look at me. She does not smile. She only bends a little to spit out of the window in 15 seconds' intervals and then comes back to the upright position. When she asked me with gestures to swap our seats, I thought it was because she wanted to vomit. No. She only wanted to spit once and again all the way from Huay Xay to Luang Nam Tha. Exactly, 5 hours and a half.