Traveling to Sam Neau was a new level of rough travel for me. To get there, Ciaran and I took a 20 hour overnight public bus that had been so overfilled that there we not only no seats but also absolutely no space in the aisles. The only spot left for us was on the spare tyre next to the back door, which we shared with two other people who leaned all over us. Add to this blaring Laos music cutting in and out for the whole trip, a smell like rotten cabbage and people throwing food all over the ground and you starting to get the picture, although this was definitely one of those experiences that can only really be lived, not explained. It was pretty funny actually.
Once we finally arrived we went and found Laith who took us out into the field to see the UXO Lao workers searing for bombs. It was absolutely fascinating. Laith explained loads to us about the bombs and how UXO LAO and MAG operate, as well as some interesting things he has found out while living in Laos. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any explosions but we did see a cluster bomb in the ground the workers were going to blow up in the afternoon. While out this way we also visited some caves in Xieng Khouang where Lao people hid during the bombing raids and they were really interesting. After spending a few days here with Laith we headed onwards to Phonsavan aware that Sam Neau would have been more or less a nothing place if we didn't know Laith and get to see the UXO guys work.
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