Laos is a very mountainous country. The poor regulars can barely get out of their own way, much less climb a hill. Since there are approximately 4,984 very steep hills between any two points in Northern Laos, it's a bit of a challenge for the poor beasts.
The standard procedure for hill climbing goes something like this: When the driver has a down hill run, he throws the coal to the old steed until certain doom looms in the mind of every passenger. The whole bus is quaking like a dog passing peach pits. Windows rattle, seats rattle, teeth rattle, and all of the crazy hodge-podge of baggage lashed to the top alternates between beating a tattoo on the roof and trying to flying into the eternity.
Just as one is sure that the poor tin can will rip asunder from sheer velocity it was never designed for, the whole shebang hits the uphill. The incredible momentum carried us about three metres before there is a horrible clashing of many, many gears, some of which remain behind, and we quickly shudder to a walking pace.
This is repeated, as I said, some four thousands of times between any two points.
As I pondered this, and then added in the multitude of hairpin turns on every road, I decided that there must exist a cosmic Lao Bus Ride punch card. It is sort of like the daylight bombing raids over Germany in WWII, you are only going to survive so many.
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