The Magical Mystery Tour: Laos to Vietnam

We had originally planned to get a bus direct from Tha Khaek to Hue in Vietnam.  Our LP book informed us that this was possible but upon arrival in Tha Khaek we couldn't find any information about what days the buses run, what time they leave, or if there even were any buses going to Vietnam.  We were pretty confident we could get a bus to the border from Savannakhet, a town 3 hours south of where we were, so we headed for the bus station to catch the next bus south.

Our luck was in.  We arrived at the station minutes before a bus was scheduled to leave for Savannakhet.  We grabbed a couple of waters, hopped on board and we were on our way.  Off to a good start.  We pulled into Savannakhet 3 hours later and headed straight over to the ticket office to purchase tickets for the next bus into Vietnam.  It's a 12-hour, overnight journey from Savannakhet to Hue in Vietnam and there were several options - the VIP sleeper bus, the regular air-con bus, and the local bus.  We were hoping to travel in relative comfort on the sleeper but it was a Saturday and it only runs on weekdays.  Same story for the regular air-con bus.  That left us with the local bus.  We'd heard quite a few stories about the local bus but hadn't yet had the pleasure of riding one.  Now we'd get 12 full hours on one!

We were scheduled to leave at 10 pm so we killed some time in Savannakhet before heading back to the bus station.  Our ride rolled up at about 9:30 pm.  Didn't look too bad.  A bit shabby but pretty much in tact.  Nobody seemed in much of a rush to get on so Lee jumped on to check out the scene and try and secure some decent seats.  The seats only went about halfway back in the bus, the rest of the space looked like it was for transporting cargo.  On this particular bus there were 2 large spare tires and a number of boxes including one which contain several live chickens.  A hammock was also strung up between 2 poles toward the rear.  Most of the seats had boxes jammed under them which didn't leave much space for your legs.  We grabbed one of the few seats that had a bit of space below.  Much to our surprise the bus left on-time, the windows and front door were all open so there was a nice breeze flowing through the bus and we started to think this might not be so bad after all.

We chugged along at a steady pace for the first couple of hours.  We were the only foreigners on the entire bus and we stuck out like sore thumbs, but nobody was that interested in us at all and they went about their business.  The seats on this bus were tiny, probably half the size of a normal bus.  But that didn't stop most of our fellow passengers getting comfy by contorting their bodies into seemingly impossible positions and nodding off.  There were feet everywhere.  Locals weren't shy about using the armrest of the seat opposite to stretch their legs.  Those who weren't sleeping were passing the time chain-smoking and flicking their butts into the aisle.  The chickens pretty much kept to themselves, save for the odd bit of clucking.  Only another 10 hours to go.

1am rolled by and we were feeling pretty good about the public bus.  That's when things started to get a bit....bizarre.  First a tough-looking little old man sans shirt (sounds like an oxymoron but he was a muscley little fella) came back through the bus collecting passports.  Everyone else handed them over without a fuss so we assumed this was standard practice but we knew the border didn't open for another 6 hours so we were obviously a bit concerned giving ours up to this character who was clearly NOT an official representative of the Laos government.  We reluctantly handed them over figuring as long as we're all on the bus they can't go anywhere.

A short-while later we pulled over in the middle of nowhere and everyone but the chickens piled off and proceeded to relieve themselves in a field - men beside the bus, women behind.  All very organized.

At around 2am, the bus stopped in a small town, outside what looked like someone's house, and once again everyone got off.  We initially thought it was another "comfort" stop.  Not so.  After several unsuccessful attempts at communicating with other passengers we finally figured out that we were already in the border town of Davannsah and that's exactly where we would be staying until 7am when the border opened.  Out of nowhere a woman appeared and started rustling up noodle soup for everyone (except for us).  Once snack-time was over people started making their way up some stairs at the back of the building.  Noodle soup lady made a sleeping gesture to us and pointed to the stairs.  Watching too many episodes of Nat Geo's "Locked Up Abroad" has made us a bit paranoid about leaving our bags unattended, especially when a border crossing is involved, so we grabbed our bags from the bus and took them upstairs with us.

We slept in what we can only describe as an unfinished attic.  Set up around the room were blankets and pillows on the floor along with mosquito nets covering them.  And it was HOT.  We eventually managed to fall asleep for about 2 hours.

By this point of course we have no idea where our passports are.  Grandad muscles is wandering around but the passports are nowhere to be seen.  Just as the nerves were creeping in a smart looking mustachioed man zipped up on a motor-scooter.  He marched right up to Lee and asked for his passport.  Lee could see it in his hand so pointed at it.  Mustache smiled and said " See you at border.  7am."  And with that he hopped back on his scooter and was off again.

The border was chaos.  Lee eventually found Mustache and asked for our passports.  He pointed at another man we'd never seen before who was wearing a lovely matching denim jacket and jeans and holding a big stack of passports.  When he saw Lee he magically produced both our passports from an inside pocket of his 80s stonewash denim threads. 

We had to walk from Laos to Vietnam. Every time we got a stamp in our passports it cost us a $1.  There were probably close to 50 people crossing at the same time as us but we were the only ones diverted to quarantine.  Not even the chickens were subjected to this!

Finally in Vietnam and back on the bus headed to Hue, we thought nothing else could possibly happen.  About 30k out from Hue, the bus stopped at a little roadside cafe for some food.  At this point we were informed that the bus wasn't even going to Hue!  We were told we'd have to get on a motor bike the rest of the way and pay another 20,000 kip each!  We politely insisted that we'd got a ticket for Hue and that's where we would be going on this bus.

Back on the bus it seemed that our protests had been successful as we continued on towards Hue.  Suddenly the bus stopped again and we were told to get off.  This time they weren't having none of it so we grabbed our bags and made our way to the door.  Just as we were getting upset, a woman who was somehow involved with the bus company (not sure how but she seemed to know everyone and was the main person insisting we get off) handed us some cash and said it was to pay for the rest of our journey.  We got off, completely baffled by the whole exchange and sat by the side of the road.  Not 2 minutes later, a mini-bus showed up and we were bundled on it.  We handed over the money we were given and before we knew it we were right in the center of Hue, much closer than if we had gone to the bus station.

Overall one of the most bizarre experiences we've had on this trip or otherwise.  At the time the scariest thing about it was being completely helpless - we couldn't communicate with anyone and had no control over what was happening.  In the end it seems that there was a system in place the whole time and although chaotic and confusing to us, seems to work fine for the Lao and Vietnamese folks who regularly ride the local bus.

Get your motor running, head out on the highway

We'd been dying to rent a motorbike and get out onto the open road, wind in our hair and all that, and we finally decided to pull the trigger in a place called Tha Khaek in Southern Laos.  There's not much in the town itself but there's plenty of things to see and do just outside.  Route 12 is part of "The Loop" a 3-4 day tour popular with backpackers on motorbikes.  We didn't have that much time so we decided to rent a bike for the day, head east out of town and take in some of the sights along Route 12.

We rented our wheels from a small shop across from where we were staying in Tha Khaek.  It was a pretty small operation run by a friendly Lao guy.  He had 3 bikes to choose from - old, crap, and old and crap.  The shop owner must have sensed we were looking for a bargain as he immediately offered us old and crap.  He said it would be perfect for our day trip and there would be no need to spend the extra 10,000 kip for one of the slightly better bikes.

As neither of us have any experience riding motorbikes Lee asked for a bit of a rundown on how things work - how do you turn it on/ where do you put gas in/ where is the brake? - that sort of thing.  He showed us the gas tank first.  He did this by lifting up the seat to show us where to put gas in.  The thing is the seat wasn't even attached!  He just lifted it off and put it on the floor!  Not a good sign.  The he tried to start it.  The electric starter wasn't working so he said we'd have to kick-start it.  After a couple of attempts he got it purring...and then it died.  He eventually got it started again but it kept dying.  It seems the idle was set too low or something (again, we know nothing about bikes).  After a bit of a think he suggested we take it down the road to have the mechanic adjust it.  That's when we decided it might be wise to pony up the extra 10,000 kip (about $1.25) to secure his best bike - the Fuma.  125ccs of raw, unadulterated power!  We still had to take it to the mechanics for a "tune-up" but after that we were ready to go.

We headed east out of town and into the countryside.  The scenery was beautiful.  We passed through small villages, between limestone karst cliffs, through rice paddys.  We dodged cows, held on for dear life as massive trucks rumbled by covering us in thick clouds of exhaust, and waved at small kids as they played by the side of the road.

Our first stop was at The Falang, a section of river that is a popular swimming spot for tourists and locals.  It took some finding as the signage isn't great but we eventually got there.  Unfortunately, as it's dry season the water was pretty low and it didn't look too inviting so we passed on the swim and hopped back on the bike got back on the road.

Another few miles down the road we stopped off at the Nang Aen Cave, a huge cave with concrete staircases constructed throughout.  It looked like something out of David Bowie's "Labyrinth."  Next we went to the Xien Liep Cave.  There's no real road or path to the cave but a little boy appeared out of nowhere and beckoned us to follow him saying "cabe."  We followed out little tour guide through the woods for about 10 minutes.  Along the way he stopped to capture a pretty decent sized beetle which he peeled the wings and legs off of and ate.  Mmmmm.  After making our way across some fairly tricky and rocky terrain (which our 5 year old guide easily managed to traverse...barefoot) we got to the opening of a large cave with a river running out of it.  Very cool.

We decided to take a few minutes to take in the scenery before heading back.  While resting Courtney taught our little guide some English words using the "Let's Speak Lao" guide we'd picked up in town.  He was quite the little student, Courtney wanted to take him home.

Our last stop was Pa Fa Cave - the Buddha Cave.  The cave was only discovered in 2004 by some guy looking for bats.  When he found it it had several hundred Buddha statues in it (hence the name).  Now Lao people and monks regularly go to the cave to pray.  To get to the cave we had to travel about 9km along a dirt road through a number of villages.  The road was pretty tough to drive on and every time a bike or car passed us we were covered in dust.  Great fun though.  Well, it was great fun until we were on our way back.  We got to the last turn before the main road and we ate dirt...literally.  We took the turn a bit wide and a bit too fast and before we knew it we were halfway down a ditch!  We were both fine save for a couple of scratches but the camera didn't make out so well.  Court had it out to take some photos of the scenery and unfortunately some dirt got in the lens as we went down.

All in all we had a great day and would definitely recommend it to anyone out in these parts....just remember to ease up off the gas as you get to the last bend on the dirt road coming back from the Buddha Cave.  Oh, and bring a little gift for the unofficial Xien Liep tour guide, you'll make his day.