The bus from Nong Kiaow to Xam Neua was packed. Not just with people, but with people transporting god knows what from one end of the country to the other. We had to climb over crates and burlap sacks just to get to our seats. I spent most of the 13hr journey leaning against a sack of oranges. This turned out to be luxurious compared to girl who had a sack of watermelons for a seat and to JB who could barely breathe due to odour that was wafting from the guy beside him. Luckily, the person next to me moved and JB was able to sit next to me so we could be uncomfortable together. Needless to say, not much sleep was to be had and we arrived in Xam Neua, a little Lao town about 3 hours from the Vietnam border, a little on the dishevelled side. We spent the rest of that day trying to wash off the bus ride and gearing up for our next leg of travel at 6am the next morning.

Up until this point, we had a good idea of how and where we were going; this leg was a little bit different. We were in one of the most remote areas of Laos, crossing the border at a point that had only recently been opened to foreign travellers. As a result, there was little information to be had in the guidebooks on how to make the journey to Hanoi. So we woke the next morning a little nervous as to how we were going to get to Hanoi once we’d crossed the border into Vietnam. We took a three hour ride in a converted pick up to the border through some of the most beautiful countryside either of us had ever seen. Laos had been one jaw dropping experience after another and our last morning was quintessential Laos.

Once at the border, we crossed with relative ease into Vietnam. On the other side, fortune smiled upon us. Just as we’d past through customs (a bamboo shack on the side of a river), a minibus from Hanoi pulled up with a group of French tourists that were heading into Laos. We were able to finagle a ride on the bus for it’s return trip to Hanoi, saving ourselves a lot of time, money and headache. We arrived eight hours later in Hanoi with our last 20 dollars in our pocket. Phew! (Did we mention that Laos only has one ATM in the entire country???)

We’ve covered a lot of ground since we last posted. After floating down a river in innertubes for two days, we switched gears and hit the road - hard.

From Vang Vieng, we took a 7 hour bus ride back to Luang Prabang where we stayed overnight. The next morning, we got up early and took a very bumpy ride in the back of pick up truck to the gorgeous town of Nong Kiaow. We probably would have hit the road the very next morning if the place wasn’t so damn beautiful.

Instead, we arranged for late check out and we spent that night drinking Beer Lao’s as the sun went down and befriended a Dutch couple, Linda and John.

We spent the next day exploring caves that were used by the Pathet Lao as a hiding place during the time the US was secretly bombing them back to the Stone Age. That evening, we packed up our bags and crossed the bridge to a restaurant where we sat playing cards awaiting the night bus.

We left Nong Kiaow by public bus (not as simple as it sounds). We were given a window between 7pm and midnight for its arrival. There was no real bus stop; you just had to hope that you could flag it down as it flew through the town. The bus ended up arriving at around 11pm. The ensuing bus ride was “unforgettable” and one of our most trying experiences to date. 

(This was the view from our riverside bungalow.)