Journey from Vietnam to Laos

*note: this entry is being co-written by Joanna and Carly. The story needs multiple perspectives.

C: We began our trip with the understanding that crossing borders is a complete drag and a waste of time and money. For this reason we decided to find the most direct route from Vietnam to Loas, checking and comparing between several different travel agencies to get the best price and least time on the bus.

J: Border crossings stress me out. I figured, pay a little more and we might avoid the hassle.

C: For $35 we decided to book the trip through our hotel. The front desk woman assured us that the journey was direct and would consist of a sitting bus for the initial four hours and a sleeping bus for the remaining 14 hours.

J: The first leg was fine. We were on a sitting bus for about 4 hours. We arrived in Hue. I, of course, was consulting my map the entire way into the city to make sure I knew where we were and check to see where we needed to go. I watched as we passed further and further away from the place they told us we would be dropped off. When we got off the bus they told us to go to the booking agency... about 2 miles away. We took a fairly easy cyclo ride to the agency. That's when the hell began.

C: The man said there was no direct route to Vientiane. The next bus wouldn't leave for two more days from Hue, a place I'm sure you haven't heard of for obvious reasons.

J: I was starting to get upset. What were our options? I asked. He said there was one seat left on the sleeping bus. Carly asked if we could share. He told us one person could take the seat and one person could sleep on the floor of the bus. But he kept telling us to hurry and make our decision because the bus was about to leave. Carly and I argued for a moment before deciding yes, we would take it. But we needed to hurry!

C: The cheapest and "fastest" way back to where we originally started was to again take a cyclo. The travel agent could only find one cyclo. He threw one bag on the cyclo and Joanna started climbing in, but he yelled NO, you both go!

J: So they laid down a wooden plank for Carly to sit upon. I sat between her legs. We were still angry with each other and not talking. The anger started to subside when we realized the 100 pound man trying to push our 500 pound combined weight.

C: The cyclo driver had gotten off his cyclo and was pushing us up the hill while the locals watched from the roadside and laughed at us like we were clowns at the rodeo.

J: Finally we got back to the bus station and boarded. Carly climbed into a claustrophobic cubby next to a smelly man while I climbed beside a couple who obviously wanted space to themselves while Vietnamese music blasted from the stereo above my ear. At about midnight the bus driver woke up Carly and told her to move to the floor. Carly was angry at me for getting the "better seat" and I was busy looking through Lonely Planet only to find that we fit the perfect description for the hellish journey from Vietnam to Laos. At two in the morning is when they kicked us off the sleeper bus and told us to wait at a tiny roadside restaurant for the bus to Laos. But where is the bus, I asked? There were a couple other buses that appeared to be going to Laos but all the bus drivers shook their heads at us no. There was one girl from Switzerland with us and a Southern Vietnamese former bodyguard so I felt a bit safer knowing we weren't alone.

C: We finally figured out that the bus that had been sitting there was the one we wanted. Unfortunately there were no extra seats available on the bus. The bus driver lifted up a baby plastic chair and smiled at us. He showed us, without words, that we could sit in the aisle on top of these chairs or a wooden plank for the rest of the journey.

J: Well, I guess that'll work. The four of us climbed aboard the bus while all the locals laughed at us again. With our backpacks piled high behind us we straddled the plank for the next 4 hours until we got to the border.

C: 10 hours later... we're in Vientiane!!!

J: We could go on and on about the absurdity of the ride but we might start fighting again.

C: So we should stop.

J: Okay... I'm just desperately hoping that Laos into Vietnam is better (though knowing our luck it'll probably be worse!)