An extra passenger

by Agnieszka Czajkowska (Poland)

I didn't expect to find Laos

LAOS. Said to be the least westernized country in south east Asia. Indeed, while there, as a Polish traveler, I have experienced the most local adventure of my travels so far. To be precise, during my way from Vientiane to Vang Vieng. The distance between these two towns is about 150 km, but it takes around 4 hours. Due to the road conditions and the landform of Laos - mostly mountains. And minivan is the only option, as Laos is a country without a railway! After a little delay, the driver getting annoyed by picking up passengers from the hostels around Vientiane, about 10 am we hit the road number 13. It's the main road of the country. While driving it you can enjoy stunning views of really rural areas, locals living their lives in the wooden huts in the middle of nowhere and unimaginable green areas. Also, there are local people standing by the road, trying to sell something or maybe get a ride. There were seven of us plus the driver. And we didn't really have space in the van for any more passengers. Unexpectedly, the driver decided that we can fit in one more. Intrigued by one lady offering something to buy, he pulled over and left us in the van. After few minutes of negotiations, he came back to the van with a provisional cage with an animal inside. A live animal! Some kind of a rodent, looking like a mix of a rat and a beaver. Something that I have never seen before. Smiling, driver put the purchase under my seat at the back, next to the luggage, and sat back behind the steering wheel. As I was pretty sure that he had just bought dinner for his family, I put the volume on my earphones to the maximum, not to hear the insistent scratching of the animal. After no longer than 10 minutes, I saw a furry creature crawling under the seats. General anxiety and panic started between the passengers. It took us some time to explain to the driver that his dinner has escaped, as his English was really basic. Finally, he turns his face, while overtaking another truck on the way, and with this constant smile on his face he asks us "is it okay?". After a combined answer of "NO" was made, he finally pulled off the road. First attempts to catch the animal just made it angry and aggressive, so we all left the van, leaving the driver armed with the hairbrush and a stick, alone with his purchase. The van was moving, driver shouting, some of passengers laughing, some swearing, some just turning their face not to see the probable bloody ending of the whole scene. At some point one of the passengers decided to help the driver to catch the rodent, while me, along with another girl, were cheering the creature to run away to the wildness. The hunt inside was not going well till another local man stopped, seeing a bunch of disoriented white people standing next to the minivan. He realized what's going on quite fast and together with the driver, managed to catch the animal. But as the cage was really provisional, the rodent slipped out again while the men were talking. Unfortunately for it, they noticed it immediately, and as the animal has been already hurt, it could not make it fast enough to escape. Not wanting to see the sad end of its life, I came back to the bus, shaking and not believing what has just happened. Calming down, speechless and confused, we all sat on our sits, not sure if the driver will come back alone. He did. Not smiling anymore. Last time I saw our extra passenger, he had been hold by another local man, with some blood on its chops, resigned. I read a lot of travel books. This ride was like jumping into one of them. Not the most pleasant experience, but how authentic! I did some research. The rodent was a bamboo rat, an animal often hunted by Asians, as for their cultivation it is a pest, and apparently, a tasty meal.