Day 45 Bangkok to Vang Vieng (Laos)

We were actually quite excited about an overnight train...we had this little booth closed of from our neighbours by a curtain. The booth magically transformed into top & bottom bunk and came equip with clean pillows and blankets. We made sure we brought ear plugs and eye masks to drone out the loud old train and block out the lights. We actually got about  6 hours of relatively comfortable sleep and arrived in Nong Khawi , Thailand 14 hours later. Getting over  the boarder was easy it was the rip off artists on the other side that were the difficult part and suddenly getting used to the Lao Kip. $1 Aus is about $7500 Kip so when bus drivers were shouting out figures in hundreds of thousands it took a while to process while suddenly they were picking up our bags and dumping them in the back of their minivans. We finally made it to Vientiane the capital of Laos about 40 min later  in search of a bus to Vang Vieng. The trip to Vang Veing would take about 4 hours and according to our guide book cost no more than $60,000kip each. The first quote we got was $100,00 and when we showed him the figure in the guide book he just laughed and told us it was an old book. Something was a bit fishy so we decided to ask some fellow travelers who were  also heading in our direction. They said they had been waiting for 2 hours  for the mini bus to Vang Vieng which they had paid $50,000kip each for but the driver was looking for more passengers. The man who wanted to charge us $100,000 each was still hanging around and suddenly dropped his price to $60,000.  After a lot of work we finally got down to $50,000 but were told we had to leave NOW. All four of us got into the small minivan and thought  we were on our way...until we had to get into another van and proceeded to guesthouses picking up more people. We learnt that the other passengers had only paid $35,000kip each through their guesthouses. Lesson of the day in Laos..."Try and organize all transportation through your guesthouse". It didn't take long and the driver stopped for food in which we took the opportunity to try Laos Soup...a clear broth with roast pork, chicken sausage and noodles, accompanied with a large plate of green vegetables and herbs that you add yourself. Back in the van and we suddenly found ourself on a dirt road winding up into the hills...it was a journey with plenty to look at. Slowing down for old  woman in bamboo hats herding their cattle, young woman carrying babies on their backs and water containers on their heads, stopping for ducks, chickens, goats and pigs to cross the road, naked children playing in fits of laughter, the view of huge limestone cliffs in the distance, rice fields bordered by small huts and villages. It was breathtakingly beautiful, by all means they have non existent monetary wealth, but yet so so much wealth in the land, in the community and in those unbelievably happy children.