Day 233- The only reason we were in Sam Neua was to visit the caves in Vieng Xai where the communist party hid during the 'Secret War'. So really we wanted to get straight to Vieng Xai last night but by the time we arrived in Sam Neua there was no more buses. Then after some research last night we were led to believe that we could catch a bus direct from Vieng Xai town to Vietnam. So we thought we would stay in Sam Neua for a day and then get the first bus to the caves tomorrow. First, we hunted for breakfast and found it in the market, a nice big bowl of noodle soup. From here we had a wander around and didn't find much but some crumbling stupas and tacky shops. We were back in the hotel by midday but had plenty of work to do, with the new charger we did some serious blogging and then ate all the fruit we bought at the market on our balcony. Then we asked the hotel receptionist if we could buy tickets to Vietnam from them to make sure we got a seat. She then told us in her very broken English that you couldn't get the bus from Vieng Xai. We were left very confused and assumed that people who had got the bus from Vieng Xai had simply flagged it down on its route and managed to get a seat. However we did not want to be left standing for 12 hours on a cramped bus. Over dinner we debated the dilemma that faced us; take our bags and stay at Vieng Xai and hope to god there will be a seat for us, or hope that we can catch a bus back to Sam Neua and then stay until the next morning where we could get a seat on the Vietnam bus. The worst scenario is that we would be stuck in Vieng Xai until next morning and miss the Vietnam bus. It all sounds very confusing and it bloody was!

Day 234- In the end we decided to get the first bus to Vieng Xai and then aim to get back the same day, we would take our bags in case we were stuck for the night and then hope to flag down the Vietnam bus the next morning and if all else fails head back to Sam Neua and arrive into Vietnam a day late. Fingers crossed. To really enlighten matters we arrived at the bus station at half 6 to catch the scheduled 7am bus to Vieng Xai only to be told it wasn't running due to low season and the next one wouldn't be until 9. Fantastic. After a 30 minute walk we found some instant noodles for breakfast and waited. The bus left at 9:40am and we were in Vieng Xai by 10:30. There was a Swiss lad also wanting to visit the caves so he came along with us. We had our big bags so the 30 minute walk was treacherous and very sweaty. We made it to the Cave tourist centre and booked ourselves on the 1pm tour. Here they also confirmed all our info on the Vietnam bus saga. He said we should be able to catch some form of transport back to Sam Neua and was our best bet. In the meantime we found the market and yet more noodle soup for lunch and the three of us walked back to the centre in time for our tour. It was really interesting although a little heavy. We had a guide who spoke good English but we also had an audio guide which played for the entire 3 hour duration of the tour. We visited many different caves that were burrowed into the limestone peaks surrounding the small town of Vieng Xai. In the caves the Pathet Lao or Laos communist party and up to 23,000 of their followers and local people hid in the 480 connected caves for around 9 years as they we were continuously bombed by American forces in the Secret War. This was again to prevent the spread of communist ideology just like in Vietnam and was all part of the same war. We seen everything from living quarters kitchens, bathrooms, meeting rooms, artillery houses, schools, hospitals and theatres. They had created an entire system of ordinary living in extraordinary surroundings and situations. It was very informative and really worth the visit. We headed back and had to walk the 30 minutes back to the main road hoping to catch a bus. Within an hour and a half no buses past so we resorted to hitch-hiking. Me and the Swiss lad hailed anything down and after 15 minutes a guy with a tuk-tuk pulled into a petrol station so we ran over and persuaded him to take us. Eve jumped in the front and me and the Swiss lad squeeze in the back with a very oily and dirty motorbike. It was an extremely uncomfortable hour and in that time somebody manage to crash into us whilst overtaking. Only minor but enough for our driver to kick off. Finally we were back and checked into the same hotel and had dinner with the Swiss before bed.

Day 235- Yet again up at 6 and at the station for half past- a different one this time. Luckily we had no problems finding the right bus or buying tickets. We jumped on and I managed to find a Laos sausage and bag of sticky rice with the last remaining kip we had for breakfast. We left the station at half 7 and we drove around town picking up every type of produce under the sun and threw it on the roof or under our legs. Come 9 o'clock we finally set off and we stopped at Vieng Xai and picked up three passengers, all of whom had to stand in very uncomfortable positions (we made a good choice in coming back). At 1 o'clock we arrived at the border and after some intense bag searching (they did not like the boomerang) and passport stamping we crossed in to Vietnam! Immediately after we stopped for lunch but we had no Vietnamese money and there were no ATMs in town. Luckily a Thai man who we had been speaking to offered to buy our dinner (£1 each) if we would reimburse him later, we agreed and tucked in. The food was lovely, rice with pork, veg and soup, different tastes to anything so far, we were looking forward to Vietnamese cuisine! Back on the bus we drove through endless miles of winding country roads and farmland. We dozed here and there but in truth it was a pretty horrid journey. It wasn't until 9pm that we arrived into the coastal town of Thanh Hoa, from here we had to drive a further 3 hours to Hanoi. The bus we were on all day was going to Hanoi but the conductor wanted to charge us another 300,000 Dong (~£10) but the Thai man told us the Asians were only to be charged 90,000 Dong (~£3). We were fuming because we were meant to be dropped off at the bus station and here we were stuck on a random street with no options. We refused to be ripped off that much out of pure racism though and with the only two other foreigners- two British lads, we decided to get a taxi to the bus station and get a bus from there. So I found an ATM but no money would come out, day kept getting worse. The Brit said he would lend us the money and yet again we had no choice. We turned around to tell the Thai man and he had already left. So the four of us jumped into a taxi and after only 5 minutes of driving he pulled over at a petrol station. We were sick by now and couldn't be bothered with any more nonsense. It turned out the taxi man knew the bus passed here and stopped for people, and he was really friendly and helpful. When the bus pulled up 2 minutes later he asked the price and helped us on, lovely man. He must have known a bus was due and saved us the time and money on taking us to the station! The bus was big, comfortable and had air con. Luxury compared to the dump we had just got off. 3 hours later and we were in Hanoi, we had nothing booked but the Brits did and we agreed to go with them to see if they had spare rooms. There was a torrential downpour in Hanoi and the bus told us to get out at a junction and get a taxi as it was closer than the station. We ran down the slip road and flagged down a taxi, we drove to the centre and stopped at an ATM. The taxi driver was lost and we circled the same lake twice, luckily we knew it was the main lake in the centre of Hanoi so as soon as we spotted a hotel we jumped out and paid the Brit back, leaving them to drive aimlessly around in search of their hotel. We were getting soaked and ran to the door where a lovely man opened it for us and showed us a room- $20 but we just wanted a bed by this point. It was a really nice hotel and the staff were so helpful and friendly. They even showed is a small cafe next door and helped us to order some Chicken porridge. Back in the room we showered and finally got into bed at 1am!