Quote:
Originally Posted by Pad Mc
Hey Archie.
Where did you cross over from Vietnam to Laos? I presume that you went up from Saigon to Na Trang and up again to Hoi Ann? Then crossed somewhere in central Vietnam?
I am planning this route myself. I will be doing it in June. The plan at the moment is to cross over to Laos from Vietnam at Lao Bao. I intend to get back into northern Thailand from Laos (somehow) then. The plan sort-of stops here though... Still researching!
Any suggestions or advice (a bit more detail of any kind!) would be greatly appreciated...
Pádraig |
Yeah, that's right. We travelled up to Hoi Ann (up the coast by train, it's definitely worth spending the extra few bucks for 1st class).
We took a minibus from Hoi Ann that dropped us off about 1 mile from the border and the moto-mafia wanted 4-5 US$ to shuttle me with my huge Samsonite so we said no way and walked the whole way. Had I known, I would've gotten the bus driver to bring us to the border directly. But I guess they all want a piece from the ATM.
Once out of Vietnam it's like 1 mile dirt road in "no man's land" before you get to the Laos Border. Another rough time with the Samsonite was to be had. A backpack is hugely recommended here.
The border crossings from Vietnam to Laos were pretty uneventful other than the 'helpers' all want a piece of you. They even assist you with filling out the forms, for a nominal fee.
It was a very long day of travel because we left Hoi Ann in the morning and arrived mid afternoon at the border. By the time we crossed in Laos it was about 5pm and there aren't any places to stay once you arrive. We had to wait for the 7 or 8pm bus to arrive to take us down the road. So we were introduced to Beerlaos and soothed our thirsts for the few hours until the bus arrived.
Wow! It arrived. It's like a 1960 greyhound bus half filled with Laos folks and the rest is all kinds of cargo, including about 6 feet of stuff spanning the whole roof. This bus was really loaded and I thought to myself 'this could be my last bus ride', but the copious amount of Beerlaos consumed relaxed the nerves and off we went after we were squeezed into the last seat in the back of the bus.
It was a long ride (1 am) until we arrived at a small town that was the fork where we got off and the bus kept on going. It was fairly hard to communicate since English is not spoken much in this area. But we got by though.
The following morning we took a bus to Savannakhet and stayed a few days there and then off to Vientiane. Nice riverside picnic areas in Vientiane to enjoy Beerlaos.
After a few days here, I went through the border to Issan after doing the bus-shuttle hop at the border (uneventful also).
I'll add pictures later...