180 Days in Asia

Well, after some time in Cambodia I headed for the border town of Strung Treng. I met an Austrailian couple (university students) on the bus there. After sspending the night there we caught the bus for Loas. The bus dropped us off on the Mekong river so we could catch a small boat over to the big island of Don Khong. This is the 4000 islands of southern Laos...wo! I quickly lost count as the river rose daily due to the major storm (tyfune) that hit the asian east coast the week before. We rented a small boat and headed for the waterfalls/rapids. They were nice but not as large as we were told. A few days around the islands and then we were off by bus to Pakse. Pakse is the second largest city in Laos. The Bolivan Plateau has tribal peoples and the women have tattooed faces.....oooook..... a now lost art form. A few days there was enough and we all headed for the border of Vietnam by bus. The trip lasted 19 hours. It was a small bus and overpacked as well no air-conditioning. It was miserable as we made only quick toilet stops, no meals/drinks.....arrrrrrgh! No english either. We arrived at the border on the Loas side at 3 am but the border personnell opened up at 7am. Then the utter caos began. Woooooooo it was confusing and frustrating and took forever but we managed to survive the ordeal. Then we pated for the Vietnam side......much less problematic and organized but the crowd was pushy and folks cutting in line....hummmm I sent many back to the end of the line with sign language and fire in my eyes and voice. They got the message. hehe It was then that we realized we were finally in Vietnam and had to go for 2 more hours on the bus to Hue, Vietnam. Hue is a beautiful city on the S. China sea and a very peaceful place. See ya there......