What beautiful pictures, crellston. I always say, it's not the museums that make a trip, it's the interesting people.

Wonderful photos, crellston -- such joy and engagement!
Many thanks.

For safey? For comfort? For some other reason?

P.S. Sorry about the malaria.

@ crellston, re: malaria and it's risks: I just saw your post about insurance on progol's thread, and it made me think about a possible difference in our attitudes towards mosquitos:

Despite the promise of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), the legislative changes to, and judicial rulings regarding, health care options since Obama left office mean that coverage for pre-existing conditions remains precarious in the U.S. So just to take my personal situation as an example: If I were to get malaria, I could probably continue to renew the insurance I now have -- BUT continuing my current health insurance policy from year to year is not a guaranteed option. For example, insurance companies go bankrupt, or they can continue to provide coverage, but at rates that are substantially higher (potentially prohibitively higher) rates. And if I were, for whatever reason, to want to switch to a different health care insurance policy -- and changing policies is something many U.S. citizens want to do as their health, and health needs, change with age -- I would then have a "pre-existing condition"-- one that might make many policies unavailable to me, or even if available, available only at a high (potentailly prohibitively high) cost.

So while I suspect that we can agree that ending up with malaria would be an adverse outcome for ANY one, the consequences of ending up with malaria for someone from the U.S. might carry an additional -- and potentially very costly -- disadvantage for U.S. citizens than those with different national approaches to health care.

I'm sure there are a lot of nuances that this brief recap ignores. I offer it as just a broad-brush generalization of a potential relevant issue.

I doubt that my attitude to mozzies is very different to anyone else’s. I hate the things but they LOVE me. No amount of deet seems to work and covering up is not really a practical option in the Far East much of the time. I Always carry a treatment course with me and would use it should I get symptoms. For me the treatment was as bad as the disease as I was allergic to it. Never had to use it since - fingers crossed. Over the years I have spend so much time in malarial areas that it is neither practical nor advisable to take prophylactics for such long periods. I have my own "treatment regime" for dealing with itchy bites etc. which works well for me.

I know little of Obamacare Etc. but I very much doubt that a bout malaria would be treated as a pre existing condition, unless of of course there were severe complications that caused further long term issues. When underwriters talk of pre existing conditions they are, in the main, referring to long term conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol etc... I have always disclosed all my ailments to insurers and malaria has never been an issue.

Mainly comfort. Admittedly my experience of buses in Lao was a few years ago but I doubt the road conditions, the driving or the buses have improved that much. We seemed to spend a lot of time waiting at bus stations for buses to fill up. It was not unusual, indeed the norm, for the central aisle to be filled with plastic chairs for additional passengers. I think the safety of the route has improved a lot in recent years but it used to be renowned for armed holdups. But mostly because, if I had just come off a very long international flight, I would not want to then embark on a long bus trip. A car would be much more comfortable and would allow you to stop along the way ( and it is a very scenic drive as I recall).

It is one of those travel decisions we all face at one time or another (at least those of us without access to unlimited funds!). In the past I would always have chosen economy class flights and spent the cash on splashing out on a brilliant hotel hear and there. Nowadays, I lean towards upgrading flights at the expense of hotels mainly because my back can’t face long haul in economy. Oh to be 21 again!!

@ crellston: You responded just as I realized I should come back on line to say that I did not mean to diminish, in any way shape or form, the problems associated with malaria. It doesn't seem that you took my comments that way, but I wanted to be clear about that.

And I'm sorry if I seemed to suggest that you were any less disturbed by either the mosquitoes or illness than anyone else. I regret that I seem to have a knack for poor and insensitive phrasing.

BTW: My conclusion, based on this thread, is that mosquitos have excellent taste -- I've learned that they love you and thursdaysd! Please forgive me if I am not wholeheartedly honored to be so loved.

Relax KJA I didn’t take offence in any way My attitude to the little b*******s is just that nothing I seem to do makes the slightest difference, so I just grin and bare it. I would say that I don’t recall mosquitos being a problem in LP. Mind you last time there was during the burning season so the smoke had probably killed them off!

@ crellston: It seems we were crossing cyberspace with our latest messages!

Thanks for clarifying your thoughts about the bus / car from Vientiane to Vang Vieng! I'm glad it's mainly a comfort issue. As you say, all of us with limited budgets have to weigh which things are worth a bit of a splurge to compensate for discomfort. I appreciate your thoughts (and those of CaliforniaLady) and will take them under advisement as I explore my options. Many thanks!

Crossing again!
Thanks for understanding.