Another early start for Bray - no wonder he makes the most of sleep in opportunities when they arise!! :-)
Off to the bus station at 0700 to try and negotiate the purchase of our bus tickets to Thanh Hoa (Viet Nam)...this was tricksy as we only had a few Lao kip left, the only ATM in Xam Neua was broken and so the second half of our tickets had to be paid in US dollars...if they would let us!!
Bray used his superb negotiation skills to get us on - yay! Then Si (the Brit from last night) joined us for the journey :-) Nice to have a familiar falang riding with us.
Our bus set off at a sedate pace (into Xam Neua). We then stopped at a Vietnamese coffee shop and our Vietnamese driver got on board. He was a happy and mischevious guy (tickled Roni's feet which were out the bus window)...with a DEATH WISH!!!
Well...that is maybe a little too strong. His need for speed, love of using the entire road and perpetual horn honking definitely made the ride to Viet Nam an ADVENTURE.
This...plus Si's cheerful company, incredibly narrow roads, Roni's seat breaking over a particularly airborne bump and Bray's sensitive tummy...made this bus ride unforgettable. To be honest Roni loved it most of the time :-) Some amazing scenery, limestone cliffs and the caves of Viengxai.
The three of us (plus two Lao guys) were the only passengers to Viet Nam so the border crossing at Na Meo was super quick! Our second stop in Viet Nam made a good impression as an old lady couldn't sell Roni watermelon that she wanted so took a slice from a bunch of guys and gave it to us - bless her!
We were intially going to hop off in Thanh Hoa as the lady at Xam Neua bus station told us this bus did not reach Ha Noi until 6am the next day. After conferring with our driver and his minion we found out that it actually would arrive the same day - so stayed on board (after a brief bus u-turn in the middle of Thanh Hoa main road for an ATM stop!).
The horn usage of our driver (seriously...no cease in honking for more than about 1 minute max...for over 13 hours!!) got us ready for Ha Noi / Viet Nam as everyone loves their horn here.
We made it to Ha Noi around 10.30pm, got a cab with Si, wandered the Old Quarter hot & weary from 15 hours of bus...FINALLY found our hotel down a dark alley, got key and collapsed into bed after eating our sticky rice&meat pre-purchased this morning in Xam Neua.
What a day! :-)
