I was lying in bed wondering what time it was and there was a knock on the door. It was dutch, he said it was 4.20 and the old chook had not woken us up. We woke her with our noise so she made us greasy fried eggs for breakfast. They were swimming in oil. The dodgy boat was also late but that didnt matter cos the bus had to wait for us. This time everyone got a seat.
The road from Muoang Khua to DBP is more like a bush track than a road. It is the new windey..est road I have ever been on. They are working on the Laos side and when I is finished it will be one of the worlds great border crossings. Some of the vista's are stunning. Pity the bus windows were too dirty to get photo's. At the first pit stop a bunch of old Hmong women got on the bus with all their luggage. (rubbish) They all had about 5 rice bags full of stuff and they were struggling to carry them. It all got put in the isle so we all had to climb over it to get on and off the bus.
The border at Sop Hon- Tay Trang is easy as. To check out hand over passport, stamp, done. The 3 of us were the first to get done so we went for a bit of a nosey while we waited. In one of the huts the cops were sitting around drinking so they invited us in for a beer. They were pretty cool. The border staff were changing Kip into Dong for us at a half way decent rate. Then back on the bus for the drive through no mans land to Vietnam side. Again easy, fill out form, get stamp, go next door for another stamp, done. Thats two border crossings and no one has checked my bags at all. They have not even asked what is in them. The whole trip was 85km and including about an hour at the border it took us 7 hours.
I know Im back in Vietnam. Big cities, traffic everywhere, rediculous loads on motor bikes and no rubbish on the side of the road.
The road from the border to DBP is being done up. It goes around the new Song Da dam they are building. The dam is gonna be huge and will flood a couple of cities. When it and the road are finnished it will be one of the great border crossings in the world with the stunning scenery. The area wont be so remote anymore.
There's not a lot to see in DBP. Its claim to fame is it is where the Vietnamese defeated the french in 1954 and kicked them out. Not much here for me to see again it is a transit stop. I walked for miles looking for the internet and couldnt find it. When I set off it was sunny and boiling hot. about 2 hours from the guest house a storm blew in. The wind was howling and it started ******* rain. Ive got a great set of wet weather gear in my bag but I had to buy a poncho to keep me a little dry. I walked enough to get totally lost but I eventually managed to find my way back. I will probably go to bed early tonight cos I am on another early bus tomorrow for another 6 hours to Lai Chau. This will be another transit stop then a couple of days in Sapa.
Luckily I checked my flights today. I fly out of here on Thurs, I thought I was to fly on Sat or Sun. The 3 days I am missing means next week will be a bit hectic and I will be moving nearly every day. Then I have 5 days in Singapore, which was supposed to be 3 days.
I just watched a slide show of the pics here. They were taken on the way to Sapa but they dont show what I was seeing. Too bad it is the best I can do.