Laos is one of the destinations I have been eyeing in the past, and luckily today, I’m in Laos backpacking all the way from Hanoi.
I was planning on the route suggested to me in the Thorn Tree Forum, travel from
Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu by public bus - grab a “xeom” from there to Tay
Trang and cross the border to Luang Prabang.
Looking into Laos map, however, gives me the feeling that I need at least three weeks to get me to Vientiane on that route, unless I’ll go on a marathon trip overland.
For me, marathon trip overland is like “a journey to hell.”
Well, this is Southeast Asia and those that can stand long distance journey are mostly locals, which means, you will be with them 48 hours.
It’s not that I don’t like to be with them because I love Vietnamese and Lao people, after all I am Asian. It’s the bad habit that I can’t stand, like spitting a loogie everywhere. You can hear the sound “quack, quarst” from people every now and then that sometimes when I get off the bus I lost my appetite remembering all those yellow phlegm you can see on the floor, or worse on the wall.
It is that kind of experience that makes me decide to take the shortest distance in crossing the border of Vietnam and Lao, which was Hanoi- Vinh and cross the border of Nam Phou to Vientiane.
I’m a big fan of lonely planet, so I used its book as my guide in backpacking. The book says the Hanoi-Vinh-Nam Phou-Vientiane route is a 24-hour trip which for me is tolerable.
I bought a 20usd bus ticket in Hanoi and at 5pm on Wednesday, February 3, I found myself with a group of American backpackers. We waited for our ride to the bus station that showed up an hour after. The travel company said we will leave at 5pm but our ride came past 6pm. It was okay though since we started getting to know each other, sharing backpacking experiences and expectations of our trip, so we don’t mind waiting.
I was the only Asian in the group, so I asked them to back me up if I was thrown in the middle of the road walking to the borders as I read stories of tourists being dumped on the road. The group I was with, however, was quite warm and friendly that I don’t have trouble getting along with them.
At 7pm, the bus picked us up along the road of Tran Thu Do where we walked at least 10 minutes from the highway to get into that remote street. It was not the kind of bus that everyone was expecting but because this is Southeast Asia, we knew shits can happen, so we all decided to make the most of our journey.
We arrived at the Vietnamese Frontier in Vinh by 5am and we have to wait for the immigration people for an hour before queuing in to get departure stamp. At the frontier, we were all instructed to pay 1usd or 20,000vnd which we inserted to our passports.
We don’t know what was it for, but to be positive on everything, we just thought it was a departure tax. After getting the departure stamp we queued in outside the Vietnamese frontier building where immigration officer would check whether it is really us in the passport before they’ll let us go walk towards Laos border.
We walked around 500 meters to Nam Phou (Laos border) immigration building on a dusty road passing through a small bridge where trucks and busses passed by.
My advantage of being Asian was that, at the immigration building of Nam Phou, I don’t have to queue at the visa upon arrival window instead, I went ahead like locals or Vietnamese. The rest of my group were getting their visa and paid 36usd for it while I took mine for free, although, I have to pay an entry fee of 1usd or 10,000 Kip.
I was exempted on visa payment since I am a Filipino national and under the bilateral agreement between Laos and Philippines we are given free visa for a month.
The departure and visa processing took us three hours at the border, so it was almost 9am when we left. Here’s the thing, if you go by bus bring food with you otherwise you’ll be starved because the bus driver won’t stop for breakfast and lunch. None of our group knew about it but fortunately we have cookies and snacks we bought in Vietnam that we shared until we reached Vientiane by 4 pm, an hour early than the 24-hour trip as published by Lonely Planet.
By the way, don’t drink a lot of water while on the bus because it’s not like the buses in Vietnam where toilet can be found inside. The bus has no toilet and worse the “pee stop” was just everywhere along the road. No proper toilet, so you have to go through the bushes and hide unless you are a man where you can just stand near a tree and that’s it.
We were laughing at it, making a joke to wait for civilization for personal necessities to avoid encountering snakes. Well, it was an experience worth laughing at.
In Vietnam it is easy to find accommodations because there are hotels, guesthouses, hostels and dormitories everywhere even during peak season, so everyone was confident to immediately find a place to live with, which means none of us pre-booked a hotel.
Unfortunately, it was not the case in Vientiane, hotels and guest houses were fully booked that it took me almost an hour walking with my backpack to look for accommodations.
I visited 14 guest houses before I found one available room for 100,000 Kip (around 12usd) at Youth Inn at the corner of Fa Ngoum Road across Mekong River. There are cheaper guest houses like Chantha as recommended by Lonely Planet but if you want to get rooms in those places better book in advance because it’s always full. My room at Youth Inn, however, was spacious and clean. I don’t have problem with AC and hot water plus the fact that I can view the sunset at the Mekong River from the window outside my room was perfect for me. My only complain is that they don’t have toiletries except toilet tissue but the rest are ok for the price I paid for.
Before coming here I research a lot about Vientiane and read a lot of nice stories about places to go and things to do. But here’s the thing everyone has different taste that sometimes those stories you read online might fall short of your expectations.
For example, I read a lot about massage and spas and after a day of walking around the city, I did register myself for a massage. And for me, it turn out that Philippines still has the best spas and massage, cheap but world class facilities.
I’ve been walking around Vientiane for hours with only a map on hand, visiting different places but my camera screwed up, so I kept going to look for camera repair shop. But all the camera shops I went into have no repair services, so I decided to go online and look for camera repair shop. My search led me to Samsung services in Vientiane, unfortunately I was told that their one and only technician often comes to work twice a week, if not will never show up for work in one week. Desperate to have pictures, I went around to all digital shops listed online but the common statement I heard, “bring it to Bangkok,” so I gave up. By the way, establishments here accept Thai Bath.
Anyway, to get rid of my frustrations for not having pictures of the great sceneries I saw around, I cracked a joke, telling myself “Ha! Micmic don’t mess around with men in saffron robes or your camera will be cursed and won’t work.” Ummm actually having just experienced winter in Hanoi I find Laos so hot that I decided to wear my t-tank top and shorts in going around temples. I know it is inappropriate dress for temples but I have no intention of going inside and get a close encounter with the monks, so I thought it’s alright since I saw a lot of tourists wearing shorts and sexy top anyway.
At the temples, I just avoided the look of the monks I encountered, so I won't feel guilty about it. I took pictures of the temples despite my inappropriate dress but then few minutes after, my camera stopped working.
“Duhh! My camera went straight to hell and saved the monks from distraction with my shorts and t-tank top.” LOL… well cracking a joke out of it is the only way to appease myself. Look, I’m here sitting in a café across the Mekong River, drinking cold Pepsi, waiting for the sunset which I have been dreaming to capture on my small camera since the day I arrived. How would you feel if you’re camera fails you? But then again, that’s life shits can happen, so the best thing I can do to avoid frustration is smile and crack a joke out of it. I took few shots though before my malnourished camera gave up on me, so have fun! I’ll just try to get some nice shots next time my feet landed in this country again. Cheers!
