Pakse to Hanoi

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Trip Start May 02, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 03, 2009 Next
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  Hanoi, Vietnam
Saturday, July 18, 2009

We are still wondering how we got to Hanoi in one piece, the last few weeks have been fast paced and challenging - just how travelling really should be!!

So to rewind we last wrote from Pakse in Southern Laos.  From there we got a VIP overnight sleeper bus to Vientiane which we paid a lot for, well, relatively speaking.  It was a novelty to have a bed on a bus and it was all nice and relaxing until we would go around a corner (there were many).   There was also a leak in the roof above Andrew's head which he was not to happy about!!  In addition, when getting up for the toilet, Andrew elbowed me in the eye, so for the next few days I sported a nice shiner.

In Vientiane we hired bicycles and cycled around the city (Andrews was broken so he had to cycle 3 times as hard only to go normal speed!!!)  to the famous golden stupa and their version of the 'Arc Du Triomphe'

Mekong from Vientiane

.  The weather broke here so we spent a lot of time in cafes.  Vientiane has a lot of French influence still and we got a well needed iron intake here with a good steak au poivre and a glass of red wine for good measure.  After a couple of days of mostly eating, we got a night bus to Luang Prabang, another VIP bus which cost a lot but as we were saving on accommodation, it seemed a good idea.  As it turns out, there were no beds and the AC and toilet which make a VIP bus VIP were out of order (the toiled was stacked full of boxes and a bike for the driver to make extra cash on the side for delivering).  We slept probably 3 of the nine hour journey as even ear plugs could not block the lao love songs blasting out from the speaker above our heads!!  Ok, moaning over, we were soon to realise just how nice that bus journey was. 

Luang Prabang is a world heritage site and it is certainly very serene and beautiful, but it poured non stop for the two days we were there.  This didn't stop us enjoying the gorgeous temples, cafe's and night market.  We also went to see the Kuang Si Waterfall which we had seen many pictures of and were dying to see the turquoise pools and falls and have a swim.

On the way there we were held up by a fallen tree across the road, but luckily our driver struck a deal with a driver the other side to swap passengers and so when we arrivved at the waterfall we had the bonus of seeing them completely deserted as none of the big tour buses could get through

Temple Vientiane

. Unfortunately the rain had flooded the trails around the waterfall and turned it a muddy brown, so no swimming for us, but it was still impressive even if not the thing out of a herbal essences ad that we had envisaged.

Leaving Luang Prabang we took a long boat up the Mekong river through pristine forest and passing small river villages for ten hours the first day, an overnight stop in the port village of Pak Beng and another ten hours the second day to Huay Xai, on the border with Thailand. Here we checked in at the HQ of the Gibbon Experience as we were on the trip departing the next day. We also enjoyed a nice sunset dinner and beer overlooking the Mekong towards Thailand on the other side. Next day we set off early in a 4x4 for Bokeo nature reservewhere we were to spend three days living in a tree house. After hiking about 3 hours from the truck and ziplining at 30-150m above the forest canopy (imagine me- seriously!!!) we arrived in our treehouse - a magnificent construction high up in the tallest tree in the valley, towering above the canopy below, reachable only by zipwire. The treehouse was two stories with four double matresses and mozzie nets, three hammocks, a table and stools for eating, a sink and a bathroom complete with shower. I say bath 'room' but it was actually two screens separating it from the inside of the treehouse, with a slatted floor where it was possible to watch the water from your shower falling for several seconds and disappearing before actually hitting the ground. It was open to the forest but with railings to prevent you from falling over with amazing views out over the forest. The toilet was a hole in the deck which you reached by climbing over two of the trees larger branches.
We all relaxed after our long hike through the jungle and just took in the amazing views as the sun set over the forest

Temple Vientiane

. After a fantastic typical Lao dinner and lots of fresh fruit and cups of tea we fell asleep with the deafening sounds of the jungle in our ears. Next thing we knew it was 5:30am and one of the guides was zipping into our treehouse to wake us up for a gibbon watch. Some of our group hadn't slept well so decided to stay behind. To be honest I had had trouble getting to sleep - I kept having visions of falling off the treehouse, or jumping when my harness wasn't attached! Still, we were only here once so off we went. The jump out of the treehouse wasn't as scary as it could have been thanks to a) it still being quite dark and misty and b) me still being half asleep. We trekked and zipped for two hoursbut didn't see or hear any gibbons, we got up too late apparently!!!
Back at the treehouse I spent the afternoon relaxing in a hammock taking in the atmosphere and Andrew went with some of our group for a trek to a river an hour or so away. They came back covered in leeches and in varying states of muddiness. That night after chatting and playing games, we went to get an early night and Andrew did his usual spider check in the bed, and then in the bathroom. He just called me in saying it was ok and then I saw his eyes widen in terror so I knew it had to be bad. Apparently it was the size of his spanned hand. Needless to say pretty much all of us crossed our legs all night. Next morning we got up at 4am and as the spider had disappeared from the bathroom we all shook out our belongings very thoroughly and left the treehouse sharpish - I had no problem jumping off this time! We trekked and zipped for an hour or so in the dark and then we could hear the gibbons start to sing as the sun rose - it was beautiful but also quite eerie. We had breakfast in the forest kitchen nearest the village and Andrew had a close encounter with a snake that followed him into the toilet! As we set off after breakfast I was ahead of the group and also had a close encounter with a snake that slithered off the path right next to me and when I described it to the guide he told me it was 'very very dangerous'

Golden temple, Vientiane

. When I asked him what he meant by this he said, quite nonchalantly, 'if bite maybe you die'. Hmm, let's just say that I was relieved to get back to the village and have a swim in the river with the pigs and the village children, until our guide told me that a tiger had killed a cow in the village a few weeks before! It was nice to get back to solid ground and civilisation in Huay Xai. Although the Gibbon Experience was fantastic, it was definately an experience!

So, next day we caught a bus to Luang Namtha four hours north east where we hired a motorbike for a few hours to explore the surrounding countryside.
The morning after we moved on again, to Muang Khua in NE Laos, via Oudomxay. This took slightly longer than we had anticipated because of all the landslideswe had to pass, some of which hadn't been cleared so we had to wait while they made a pretty quick job of clearing a path through. We got to Muang Khua just before nightfall and found out that the bus to Vietnam wouldn't be coming for 'a few days' because the road was 'broken'. It seemed our only option was to get a group of tourists together to hire a 4x4 to take us along the broken road (easier said than done seeing as most sensible people would never opt to do this border crossing, let alone in the rainy season). To cut a very long long story short we got up at 5:30 am, arranged a 4x4 with a group of very grumpy Spanish girls who had come this way thinking it would be quicker than the 24hour Luang Prabang to Hanoi bus

Buddas, Vientiane

. We got 5km from Muang Khua before we reached the first landslide which took three hours to clear. On the move again, we prayed that we wouldn't be part of the next landslide as the swollen river below didn't look too inviting. The rest of the journey was pretty straightforward actually, only stopping every twenty minutes or so for a fallen tree or for the driver to summon up the courage to drive through a 'broken' river. Somehow, just 7 hours after leaving Muang Khua, we reached the Laos border checkpoint, 75km away. 
Immigration was short and sweet until we realised that there was no transport to the Vietnam border checkpoint, 6km away. So we set off into no mans land in the blistering afternoon heat with not much water left but not much choice. After just 1km, which felt like 10 with our backpacks on, three motorbikes passed us, their eyes lit up with Dong signs, they unloaded the women and bags they were carrying in the opposite direction and offered to take us all the way to Dien Bien Phu, two passengers, two  backpacks plus driver per bike. After negotiating them down to a still ridiculous price but we were desperate (it was 35km to Dien Bien Phu after the immigration checkpoint and we didn't fancy the walk), we jumped on and clung on for dear life. After clearing Vietnam immigration they tried again to get more money but we refused point blank as we had written down the price and agreed on it with them beofer we got on. However, when we reached the first town they stopped, told us to get off and wouldn't take us any further unless we gave them more money

Arc de Triomphe ,Vientiane

. As the Spanish girls had already paid them, we didn't have a leg to stand on, and out of principle we refused to pay more, so started walking the remaining 9km to Dien Bien Phu. Thankfully we flagged down a bus after a few mintues walking which was really a good thing seeing as we still had not eaten anything that day and it was 4pm. After 10 exhausting hours and 100 exhausting km, we arrived in Dien Bien bus station, said our goodbyes to the Spanish girls who were then facing a 16hour bus to Hanoi (rather them than us!) and took the first guesthouse in the first sidestreet that we came across. And we were the lucky ones - we have heard that some people have taken days to do this crossing and sometimes get stranded between the two checkpoints.

After a well needed rest and some food, we got up the next day for a bus to Son La, 4 hours away. In Son La we hired a motorbike from a lady whose shop we had gone in to to buy water and came out with her own bike! We biked out of town through beautiful countryside, rice fields, limestone hills and rivers. Now and again we would take a turning off the main road down a dirttrack to explore the little villages, and people would either look at us as if we were crazy, or smile, laugh and shout 'hello how are yooooooo?' We enjoyed our first proper meal in days that night and actually went to bed with full tummies.

Next morning involved another moto taxi ride to the bus station, being ripped off for our bus tickets, using our phrasebook to explain that if we wanted to pay tourist 'tax' we would go on a tourist bus, not a local bus. I have to say that we have had some great and memorable experiences travelling on local buses and sharing jokes and food with the locals, and we usually prefer to travel on local buses to get more of an insight to the local culture rather than sitting on an airconed bus with shaded windows screening you from the people and countryside outside

Looking out of the Arc de Triomphe Vientiane

. However this occasion on a local bus was not one of those happy times. Thankfully it only lasted four hours, but involved the man next to me practically forcing me to swap my nice window seat that I had arrived early to get, with him so that he could hoc and spit his phlegm out of the window, six people being squashed on to a row meant for three, and the man the other side of me with the longest nails you have ever seen scraping me with them every time we went over a bump, which was many, many times. I got a better deal than Andrew though, who had a small girl falling asleep on his knee, waking up every ten minutes to be sick into a bag and then falling asleep again, with nothing in our phrasebook for 'excuse me your daughter's sick bag is banging against my leg'.
Off the bus, hungry from having missed breakfast and lunch yet again, we arrived in Mai Chau and got a moto taxi to Pom Coong village - an unbelievably picturesque village set amongst rice fields so green that they hurt your eyes, with a backdrop of dramatic forested limestone mountains. We found a nice guesthouse (number 7) - a house on stilts with a big communal room with split bamboo flooring for sleeping on. We were the only guests so we had the massive room to ourselves. The family were so friendly and helpful and prepared us a delicious dinner of chicken, rice, green veg and tofu. 
We were rudely awoken at 5am by the loudest chorus of cockrels I have ever heard - there must have been at least 50 of them and not one could crow properly

Crepe stall Luang Prabang

! Then the pigs joined in, followed by the ladies sweeping the floors and so we gave in and got up too. We had a nice breakfast, said goodbye to our hosts and got the bus to Hanoi, an altogether pleasant experience as we actually had a whole seat to ourselves and nobody was throwing up! 
In Hanoi we got in a taxi, wrote down the destination, set a price, wrote that down, agreed, all smiles, and then we were taken to the wrong address. When we tried to complain using our phrasebook the lady driver flipped out on us and demanded another 200,000 dong to take us to the right address. It was obviously a set up, as 200,000 dong is twice the amount we should pay for a journey anywhere in the city. So we paid her what we said we would for the original place we had wanted to go, as she had got other people involved and they were all getting quite aggressive towards us. This is the way they intimidate tourists who don't understand Vietnamese so we will pay the ridiculous extra price. We then got our and walked off - we weren't giving her the satisfaction. We found another legitimate taxi and he took us straight to our destination, on the meter, no probs. After checking into a cute little guesthouse we headed off to get some lunch/dinner and ended up getting conned again by a driver who had said we agreed 5$, not 50,000 Dong. As we had written it out in full numbers and shown him before we got in, he didn't have a leg to stand on, but still shouted at us and tried to get everyone around involved as we paid him the agreed price and walked off. Hanoi is hard work, there are bikes everywhere, and it is hot. Still, we have decided to give it another go tomorrow when we are feeling a bit fresher. 
Next stop will be Halong Bay and the first time we will have seen the sea in two months! I can't wait!

Will try not to leave it so long to update you next time as we end up writing too much to try and catch up. 

As always, thanks for reading and staying in touch, lots of love

Nia and Andrew xxx

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Temple Luang Prabang	fallen tree on way to Kuang Si Falls	Rescued Asiatic Bear, Kuang Si	Swimming area Kuang Si Falls
The path Kuang Si falls	big hole in the path Kuang Si falls	Andrew on path Kuang Si falls	Kuang Si waterfall after heavy rain
temple Luang Prabang	Entrance to temple Luang Prabang	Standing Buddhas Luang Prabang	Night market buffet Luang Prabang
Long boat from Luang Prabang	Laos boatman on Mekong	view from the slow boat	Village between Luang Prabang and Pak Beng
rain coming in on Mekong river Laos	Beer overlooking Mekong	Biggest gecko ever, Huay Xai	the gibbon experience 1
gibbon experience 2	sunset from our treehouse on TGE	view from treehouse TGE	ziplining TGE
zip line to our treehouse TGE	our treehouse The Gibbon Experience	The gibbon experience 3	meal in treehouse
toilet in our treehouse TGE	beds in treehouse	getting ready to jump from treehouse	landing platform for our treehouse
Shower in treehouse TGE	landslide on road to Luang Namtha	biking in Luang Namtha	Biking Luang Namtha
Waiting for boat in Muang Khua	Muang Khua	Boat across river Muang Khua	landslide on road Muang Khua to Vietnam
fallen tree on road from Muang Khua to border	broken river to vietnam border	crossing the broken river	Walking in Laos Vietnam no mans land
our lift to the Vietnam border	Son La countryside North Vietnam	Son La countryside	drink stop biking aroun Son La
Son La traffic North East Vietnam	biking in Son La	Biking around the Son La countryside	Mai Chau rice fields
Mai Chau area	rice farmers Mai Chau	Mai Chau countryside	rice fields Pom Coong village
in the rice fields Mai Chau	Guest house 7 Pom Coong village	home cooked dinner in Pom Coong guesthouse	our stilt house in Pom Coong village
traffic in Hanoi	Hanoi	Lke in Hanoi

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