The Epic Journey into Laos

Okay, sorry this entry's a little late in coming, but Internet has been a bit scarce in Laos at times or if it's existed, it's been really expensive. Anyways, when I left off last time Rumet and I were getting ready to make the long and arduous journey into Laos. In short, we made it, but the longer version will be more entertaining. Here it goes...

Our little journey all began when Rumet suggested that if I were keen, she'd be up for trying to make it into Laos overland. That had been my original plan as I was reading up on Laos and trying to map my route out using the Lonely Planet maps. However, the more I looked into it, the more confusing it became. There is a direct bus from Hanoi that goes into Laos, but it takes 24 hours and lets people off at Vientiene, which is not where I wanted to go. I wanted to use the northern crossing which apparently opened to foreigners in 2004. However, now there was the question of whether that crossing was even open. As no one could give me a straight answer, I pretty much came to the realization that flying was my only option. That was until Rumet came on board and we decided that we would be adventurous, go for it, and see what happens.

The first step was trying to get US dollars to take with us as Laos has only a few international ATMs. We figured that it would be no problem, that we would withdrawal Vietnamese Dong and then convert it into US dollars at the bank. Unfortunately for us, the bank refused to do this. We needed proof (ie. international air or bus ticket) that we were leaving the country before the bank would give us USD. After much arguing/pleading, the bank teller finally sighed and said that our only option was the black market. With that she scribbled down the address of a jewelry store and handed it over, whispering that it was against bank policy to recommend customers to the black market (no kidding) and begging us to be discrete. So off Rumet and I went in search of the jewelry store that apparently every Vietnamese knows about. We eventually found it and USD in hand, we headed back to the hotel to finish up packing for the next day.

We set out bright and early the following morning. Despite the previous confusion over buses, we managed to be deposited at the right bus station just as the bus was pulling out. Our cab pulled up in front of the bus, cutting him off. Rumet and I and our packs were loaded in and off we went. After 2 hours, we were let off at Hoa Binh. What's so problematic about this border crossing is the lack of transportation on both sides. As it turns out this was as far as we could get on bus. Perhaps we could have gotten a little closer to the border, but we didn't know the smaller towns along the way. Fortunately, there were many moto drivers eager to drive us to Mai Chau, about 2 hours further along our intended route. The ride went fairly well, helped along by some amazing scenery. The one scary moment came just as we were approaching Mai Chau. We had stopped for a quick photo break and as we were standing on the side of the road, we hear honking. A bus came flying past us almost hitting our two moto drivers. It barely made the turn in the road and almost hit a car coming from the opposite direction. A group of people that had stopped to take photos suddenly started running in the direction the bus had gone. While we hadn't heard any crash, it was clear that the bus was out of control, and on those roads that could be disastrous. I seriously thought that we had just witnessed a horrible bus tragedy. One of our moto drivers went to go and investigate, and then told us that everything was fine and that the bus hadn't gone off the edge. We later passed the bus and it was getting a tire changed, so I'm guessing that a flat tire was to blame.

After making it in one piece to Mai Chau, we paused for some further negotiations with our moto drivers. They agreed to drive us to the border for $22 US each. Not bad for a four hour moto ride, especially considering that they would have to drive the six hours home again afterwards. The next four hours went smoothly, or rather as smoothly as things can go on those roads. Aside from a small break for lunch we drove right through and managed to make it to the border by 3:30. After six hours on a moto though, my butt was killing me! The border was dead quiet, but thankfully open and accepting foreigners. We were quickly processed and shooed along into Laos. Once in Laos though we were faced with a bit of a predicament. The border is in the middle of nowhere (and I mean nowhere) and therefore no transportation. Our only option was to hire a moto for the remaining two hours to Vieng Xai. The father and son of a family that apparently lives at the border (random, I know) were our only chance of getting there (or really anywhere with a bed for that matter) that night. Unfortunately for our bargaining stance, they knew this too. In the end we shelled out $15 US each to get to Vieng Xai. While we both knew that we were being overcharged, we didn't really care at that moment. The ride was spectacular, although my butt had another opinion. Laos is an amazingly beautiful country. We were way up in the mountains so it was actually a little crisp which was a nice change. Every shade of green was present as we were riding along, from the dark green mountains to the bright yellow-green of the rice paddies. We'd pass the occasional tiny village or the different hill tribe people walking back home after a day of farming. Overall it was amazing and a wonderful introduction to Laos. We were finally deposited at our hotel at about 6pm after about 12 hours on the road (8 of which were spent on the back of a moto). It was a long day, but entirely worth it. More importantly, it was a better experience than a one hour plane ride. I'll write again soon.

Katie