I think I can tick the ‘interesting boarder crossing’ box. Pakse to Danang.

So I made my boarder crossing from Lao Boa in Loas to Khe Sahn (about half way up the country) in Vietnam and then onto Danang. Well I don’t really think anything could have prepared me. In the garden at Sabaidy2 guesthouse, Bernard and Atilla had reassured me that for $15 (turned out to be $18 for falang...); I could expect the bus to have deluxe sleeper facilities. The tuk-tuk driver didn’t show at the prearranged time so Mr Voun sent one of his staff to take me to the Northern bus terminal. I was dropped off at 18.45 at the one waiting bus and my driver left. I worked out quickly that it was a local bus and was told with relative certainty that it was full – there were already 80 people on the 60 seater. I joked that I could go on the roof and was told in all seriousness that there were already too many chickens there. After a few minutes of coaxing, I wasn’t getting anywhere so I headed to find a way of getting back the 6km to the guesthouse in the dark, but one of the drivers ran behind me laughing that there were now ‘seats everywhere’. Hmmmmmmm… My backpack went up with the chickens and I was put on a 5 litre paint bucket right beside the driver. As we set off, another 7 people got in the doorway so much of the journey was done with them hanging out of the bus a bit. Every time the driver changed gear, I had to move my legs and there were people sleeping on me, once I relaxed enough to let them which was an inevitability. There was also a much loved pup under my feet so I couldn’t move them without an occasional yelp and a look of concern from the owner. As we left Pakse I was able to see the ‘slash and burn’ farming, for which the Laos are criticised, and which reminded me of home as a child when the furze bushes were burned back. It looked like streams of lava in the night – at that stage of the journey I was still romanticising! LOL. There were parties on the streets of the villages that we went through, probably to mark the start of preparations for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. We stopped a couple of times for pee breaks and arrived at the boarder at about 2am where most people had food and we waited. Some people had children that I pulled faces at and a few older ones very kindly invited me to their table. They found another older man, who used to work with the US in aviation, to speak with me for a few minutes to check I was OK. We set of again for the boarder at about 5 and by 6 the bus stopped a hundred meters or so from the boarder for the locals to buy black market currency and sim cards and to have the most wonderful 50 mls of cold dark sugary coffee which they stirred with vigour and then added ice to. The people on the bus had taken a subtle but protective interest in who I spoke to, guiding me to stay with them. I had the feeling that locals would do OK out of these financial wheelings and dealings but the foreigner would be an easy mark. I saw the locals pleasantly and discretely checking their sims etc before the deals were done. One of the men directed me towards the boarder crossing and that’s where the real circus began – me and up to a thousand other SE Asians almost breaking into a stampede to get to the window to get our passport stamps. Strangely, this is the one place where I had to part with money unexpectedly; where all the locals were charged a dollar to leave Laos I was charged $10 – I am looking forward to working that one out. The process eventually involved me (with some trepidation) passing my passport through the crowd to the window and then waiting for hours for shouts of ‘Falang?’ to know that it was ready. I had a pleasant surprise when I walked into Vietnam as the guards there were lovely (and handsome) and they didn’t take the money that I had put with the passport, which the locals pay for the stamp. In its turn, our bus was unloaded, sniffer pup was out, there were some sellers but it was pretty relaxed until I came across the one and only attempt to scam me (that I was aware of). Two people wearing the usual dust protection face masks asked me where my bus ticket was, saying with authority that I needed to show them or pay more; I couldn’t find it and had given it to the boarder guards as proof of onward travel so perhaps I hadn’t got it back(?). Any way, even through the haze of my lack of sleep, I knew I had to find the bus driver and by the time I did, they were gone. Back on the bus, we started the next leg of the journey to Hue. More people got on. I couldn’t sit down. At that point I saw that the seat I had had beside the driver was one of the best on the bus. 3 or 4 hours later we got to Hue and the bus started clearing out making several stops along the way. I was sent to the back of the bus to rest on bags of rice, (where seats had been removed) and met a lovely teacher who had a few words of English. After telling me to put my bum bag inside my clothes, he moved away to let me sleep. A little while later, the 8 or so remaining people on the bus sent me back some watermelon and it was like magic, I was awake and able to see the beautiful mountains we were to travel trough on the journey. There was an impressive tunnel. I was very tired indeed ;). We stopped at a road side café and while I was in the loo, they ordered me what they were having – fish in rice stew and tea. I was delighted but hesitated when I saw the driver take a fish head out of his. Who knew you could get so much meat out a fish head, eh? Phew, no heads in mine and it was great. We got to Danang in the dark and a moto driver offered me his services. I had hoped to get to Hoi An but it was more sensible to stay here so I struck off with him to the Modern Hotel which was recommended in the guide book – closed, next place - not there. The motor bike went over during a parking manoeuvre but no big harm done, although the rucksack went flying and I think it was here that some damage was done to the lock. I had a good look at the driver in the improved street lights and saw that he had a facial weakness…Got back on the bike, found a place to stay that was also on my list (The $14 Hotel Hoa Hong – with a bath YAHOO) and went out to explore. There are lots of celebration lights here and absolutely no farangs that I can see except me. I had a meal in a beautiful restaurant, lots of fairy lights and lamps and candles. I have found a winner in my Spring Role competition. As I paid the bill, I saw a huge rat heading for the water feature but you know what…it seemed OK. So I went for a loooooong sleep. I know this is a long blog but I have to tell someone…so if you got this far; thank you! LOL As a reward take a look at one of the beautiful things to see in 4000 Islands, Laos X