Our VIP bus was nothing of the sort. It was a local bus.....air conditioning was the window and there were people sitting on plastic stools on the aisle coz there weren't enough seats. I was lucky to be able to get on the bus as there was no such thing as letting a lady pass - just push your own way out and step on anyone in your way. Was squashed into a window seat and Simon on aisle seat beside me. He had it worst because people were elbowing and leaning against him for the whole journey. There was a no smoking sign but as a lot of things in Asia, this was more of a suggestion and there were people lighting up whenever the felt like it. The more mannerly occasionally held the cigarette out the window but there weren't many of them. I was definitely seeing a different side of the Lao people and was kinda glad to be leaving.
We got to the border crossing which was easier than expected. Took a total of 45mins. It was a bit scary to have a man in uniform point at you and shout "you, here" and point at an interview desk! It wasn't threatening though, just a lack of language skills. We filled in an entry form while our passports were checked. The locals were sent through first and all their cases were checked. I found their luggage amusing. They were like old-fashioned cases that resembled large briefcases.
Anyway, the only tourists on the bus were ourselves and a Malaysian couple and we had to wait til last. We had to pop up our baggage on the table to be searched....I got mine opened and the guy laughed and gave me a look - there was no way he was trying to look through that tightly packed case. We both laughed and I closed it up again - I obviously didn't look like a smuggler!
Over the border we went and we were lucky there was no rain coz there were a few dirt tracks to be navigated before we got onto a proper road. We stopped in a village for lunch. The place we went into was the dirtiest place I've ever seen. There was toilet paper strewn all over the floor (it's used as napkins in some places) and food was stuck to the tables and floor. There was a rancid smell and an incomprehensible menu. I ordered a coke and got a straw from my bag - no way was that can touching my mouth. There were a table of men in the corner with a crate of beer beside them drinking away and eating messily.
We got outta there as quickly as possible and just got back on our ramshackled bus. Finally got to Vinh at about 7 that night and found a bus that was going to Hanoi later in the night. We'd been going all day but there was nothing to see in Vinh so went for it. Got to Hanoi after 24hours straight travel and went about looking for a place to sleep. Decided on a backpacker hostel dorm room coz the hotels we looked at were smelly and we were exhausted. This was ast about 7 in the morning and we had to wait til 12 to check in......how long more did we have to wait for a bed!! We sat in the commom room for a few hours playing cards then went to change some money and have a look around then finally checked in at 12.20. Bliss is a matress and pillow, especially when it's been 31hours since you've last seen one :)
Hanoi Hotels
