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Kathryn Brimacombe went

RIDING ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD

No seat inside! Full! You go up!" A short, stocky Laotian man shakes his head and waves his hand towards the roof of the bus. There, another man is pulling up backpacks from a group of latecomers - like us - and securing them with a thick rope. My partner and I look at each other and smile!

We had heard rumours from other travellers that people could ride on the roof during the 7 hour bus journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. The bus is always overcrowded, so if you arrive at the bus stop late, you just ride on top.
Neither of us had ridden on top of any vehicle before and the idea sounded pretty wild. So we purposefully arrived at the bus stop in Vang Vieng only minutes before the bus was to pull away. We handed up our packs and then excitedly climbed up the ladder and settled ourselves on the roof. Soon the remaining stragglers joined us and we tried to contort ourselves into semi-comfortable positions around luggage and limbs. A metal rail about 6 inches high ran along each side of the roof (presumably to keep the bags from sliding off) and we leaned against it, talking and smoking. Before long, the ancient engine revved up and, with several coughs, we were on our way.
As soon as we started to pick up speed, we realised that not only is riding on the roof of a bus cool, but that it's also freezing cold! Pulling on sweaters, we all held onto each other, not only for warmth but also for the added security against tumbling off as we bumped through potholes and curved around sharp bends. But I was soon so completely overwhelmed by the breathtaking world which enveloped us, I totally ignored the numbness which had spread from my butt to my legs from the cramped position I was sitting in. I felt like I had stepped back in time.

All around us, ancient limestone mountains majestically clawed their way to the sky, rupturing out of dried brown rice paddies which hugged the riverbed snaking alongside the road. We drove through villages dusty and brown, clusters of small bamboo huts on stilts. Children, some dressed, some naked, ran down to the road waving and shouting, "Hello! Thank you! Hello!" With huge grins on our faces we waved back wildly. Women wearing traditional, colourful, long woven skirts laid bamboo leaves along the roadside to dry. They stopped to stare and smile at us as we rumbled past, and we smiled back.

We started winding higher up into the hills and were soon looking across a vast mountain range, so huge it touched the horizon and continued beyond. Villages here are literally perched on the cliffs and I wondered how they just didn't tumble down the mountain side. Ahead of us a woman walked along with a basket balanced perfectly on her head. We passed her by in a red cloud of dust, and I looked back just in time to see her melt into the bushes. I was so awe struck by our surroundings that I didn't even notice the sun climbing higher and higher in the sky, passing over into the afternoon.

The road started to get busier. More motorbikes whizzing past and the tiny roadside shacks, selling everything from bottled water to cigarettes, were becoming more numerous. I realised that the journey was almost over.

By the time the bus spluttered into Luang Prabang, I was so stiff I could hardly climb down the ladder, my arms so sore from waving I could barely lift them, and my face so sun and wind-burned it felt as if it would crack into a million pieces. But I couldn't stop smiling! I felt like I'd been riding on top of the world, that I'd been witness to a land and people of awesome beauty, an experience which would not have been possible inside the bus.

Viewing this world through a dusty glass window, surrounded by the body heat and odours of 50 loud back-packers could never compare with the experience we'd had.On the roof we had a massive expanse of blue sky above our heads. If we stretched our fingers out far enough we could almost touch the trees. When the women smiled and the children waved they were doing so at us! We made eye contact. We communicated. We experienced Laos, not just a bus ride!

I truly believe one should view the world from as many angles as possible because each one lets you experience things you usually wouldn't otherwise. Now, having experienced a small part of Laos from the roof of a bus, I will always choose to ride on top!

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