We had a great time in Vang Vieng floating down the river on tubes. As you go the riverbanks are full of bars that all have giant swings and zip wires. It really was one of those days when you think "Yep this is the life!". Also while there Del cut my hair, if that's not trust I don't know what is.

Unfortunately we moved onto Vientiane, we really should have given it a miss. It has to be the worst capital city ever, plus it has no real character or culture. Everything just costs more. The best thing about it was the noodle soup and doughnut stalls we found. But they were only open at night. We spent most of our time trying to figure out a way to leave. Again this was so difficult there is no way it should be a capital. We wanted to continue south to Savannakhet before heading to Vietnam. Apparently impossible. One bus left at 8pm and got there at 2am (what are we going to do at 2am besides being robbed?) the other left at 5:30am (we like our sleep). So left with no other option we took a bus straight to Vietnam.

The bus journey was dodgy to say the least. We only found one seller who knew anything about a 14 hour trip, none of the others had a clue what we were talking about when we asked for the price of that bus. They all told us our only option was to take a 22-24h bus. Because of all this we ended up not believing the lady who told us about the 14h one and opted for the long one. It was an overnight bus and we scored some pretty good seats at the back. The floor space there gave us enough space to lay down on, plus take our bags up top with us. Our driver was manic passing at every slight opportunity. We did manage to get some sleep but were woken early by people coming on the bus asking if we wanted to exchange money (black market) and one guy demanding our passports. All the westerners refused to hand them over to this random guy. So we all got off the bus with him. Then he explained that he was going to take them (in his plastic bag and on a scooter) to the border to get the exit stamp needed from the Laos officials. When we finally handed them over he then demanded $3 per passport as a fee to get the stamp. Now after spending $77 to get into the country (Why do Canadians get the short end of the stick in every country paying through the nose $42???? I thought we were peacekeepers) an extra $6 to get out seems a bit ridiculous. We all knew he just pocketed it. Del tried to tell him we had no money and the man yelled saying "You don't pay, you don't go to Vietnam today!" Luckily I had some $ in my pocket.

Going across the border was then a bit of an ordeal. Del got his passport stamped and he was sent on his way. I on the other hand at another window was told to fill out a form. One that Del wasn't given. We tried to ask what was going on and why Del didn't need to do one but I did. The official just turned his head and ignored us. Finally Del asked that he to had a form, good thing otherwise he wouldn't have had an exit card and would have some trouble leaving the country. When we got back to our bus and sat in our seats our rucksacks were missing!! We flew off the bus demanding where they were. We were met with no reply's, being ignored and smiles. One pointed under the bus and when we asked to see them he threw a fit and was yelling something and flinging arms around, but did eventually open it up. To our relief they were in fact there, but could not get any answer or explanation as to why somebody had moved them.

When we got to Hue we were screamed at to get off the bus and dropped not at a station of any kind but just on the side of the road (taxi rank nearby) 14h after we had left. Just goes to show how much people really know about the product they are selling. We were happy to get off the bus and I think the owners were happy to get rid of us.

Off to explore Hue today and then make our way down Vietnams coast towards HCMC...