Good Bye Laos, Good Morning Vietnam

Ill give you 10 points if you actually read all of this!!

It was a bit sad to leave Laos, but our journey forth onto Vietnam was an experience and a half. We stayed two nights in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and to be honest we weren't too impressed with it. We struggled to find a place to stay was a mission and a half in the pouring rain and it seems to be the norm that when we arrive in a new place it is raining! Dave and I shared a room with Glyn, a Welshman; and we all hang out with Krystal and Kyle (from Canada). It was great hearing travel stories from them and of course you do the old exchanging of contact details for further down the track. We cycled the city and visited a temple (That Luang), the iconic symbol of Laos and the 'Patuxai', otherwise known as the 'vertical runway' which is a monument built from cement given as aid from the USA Government in the 1950's which was towards to go towards building a runway at the airport. We also visited the Laos History Museum but this focussed on the war with the French and Americans and didn't read particularly friendly.

Probably the best part was having dinner down at the river front both nights at makeshift restaurants, with the bathroom in the bushes and the kitchen out in the open. Nice meals and cheap beer. We later found a pub and all watched the Super 14 final - but hey nothing exciting there!

The otehrs all left for a flight to Cambodia at 4am Sunday morning so Dave and I found our way to the bus station and jumped on the next bus south. It was literally reversing out of the terminal and we had to jump on. It was packed by not only people but assorted goods, and 100m around the corner 4 guys jumped on selling chewing gum. We parked up just down the road for 30minutes, for no apparent reason other than to let a whole lot of locals jump on selling baguettes, drinks, medicines and the like. It was hectic!! We finally made our way further south with the onboard tv playing Laos music videos full bore, locals lying on sacks of rice, and the ticket person leaning on the back of my seet no more than 5cm away. We stopped several times along the way where locals jumped of and ran for the bushes for a toilet stop. The road was a main highway but so average. We got let of 4hours south of the capital and caughts a Sawngathew (ute) 2.5hours east to Lak Sao, 30km to the Vietnam border. We were sitting in the back of the ute with a few children, a motor, an old man, several other locals and a whole lot of bags. The road was dodgy as but the scenery was wonderful.

We arrived in Lak Sao just as it was getting dark and walked down a bumpy muddy road to a guesthouse. We were the only ones staying at it was remanissent of the Adams Family house. The room was ok, well actually the bathroom was bigger than anything else.

The next morning we made our way to the bargain, Dave found us a rind to the border, and there we left Laos. A bit sad to leave, but excited to finally get to Vietnam after hearing so much about it. But...and there always are buts....my first impressions weren't favourable. We were the only ones at the border crossing, the otherside was a bit like Shantytown. We caught a van and then transferred to a minibus to make the journey 3hours north east to Vinh, past numerous rice paddies and old colonial buildings. Again, locals jumped on, things were tied to the roof, the guards were 'paid off' - probably 'coz the bus was transporting something it shouldn't had been, the ticket person was saying 'Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam' and of course tried to hustle more out of us than what was agreed.

In Vinh we were let off in the middle of nowhere...and without much of a plan finally found a taxi to take us to the train station. Vietnam, or at least everywhere so far, had no English signs and all people could say is 'hello'. We figured out the trains, checked into a hotel, and decided to leave the next day (Tuesday). You can/have to bargain the price for everything and the words - 'no thankyou' or the act of walking away can be powerful in a price dropping, something im sure i will get much better at. The streets around us were so crazy; with motorbikes, bicycles, lorrytrucks and busses - the pedestrian has no right of way and to cross the street you simply crawl gradually towards the otherside. Horns are constantly blurted out in all directions and i have no idea in the world how people can interpret what the next means. Dave hasn't been feeling too well so, much to my despise (haha), we rested up and watched a couple of movies. We had our first Vietnamese meal - "Pon Gee" - Chicken noodle soup, which is quite tasty. I was only worried for the fact that i had no idea what that meant at the time!

Yesterday (Tuesday) we caught a train north to Ninh Binh, 90km south of Hanoi. It was a lovely town, although we weren't there for long, and we stayed at a lovely little hotel just 300m from the train station. We had a bit of a look around at night, but left the next morning (this morning - Wednesday) for Hanoi - anxious to see what all the hype is about.

And well, how amazingly huge is this place. I promise to get some photos up soon (im not allowed to use my USB here). The streets are small, like alleyways and thousands of people pack into little eating shops and drive scooters. Our eyes were amazed when we pulled into the bus station this morning and like 40 taxi drivers pushed and pulled to get our custom. The traffic is hurrendous and no wonder why there is a constant smog just above our heads.

So...sorry for the lack of photos.

Peace