Ready to leave Chiang Mai after a lovely few days trekking and looking round the town, we turned up at the bus station with plenty of time only to find out that all of the busses had already been booked up! Frustrated and unsure what to do as the next bus wasn't for another 24hrs and our hostel was now full we decided to just book a bus for the following day and try to find somewhere to stay for the evening fairly close to the bus station. After wandering around for a while we managed to find a guesthouse tucked in down a small street that was slightly more expensive but did offer the luxury of its own pool and a sunbathing terrace! The next day after spending our time relaxing by the pool we packed up again and headed for the bus station only to find our bus had broken down and we had to wait for a replacement! Finally after another hour wait we were on our way to Nong Khai, the border town between Thailand and Laos.
Arriving in Nong Khai after a long bus ride still feeling sleepy we found a local bus to the border, passed through and then made our way to the hostel in Vientiane. We arrived at the hostel and chatted to the lady about our intentions to head up to Vang Vieng in a few days when she suggested that we could just get on a bus that day as there were still a few spaces left. Unsure about the prospect of spending yet more time on a bus we decided to go for it and were soon on our way to Vang Vieng.
On the bus ride there we met a few other travellers who were planning on staying in the same hostel as us so we decided to book out one of the dorm rooms and all stay together. The hostel was basic but very cheap and had fantastic views of the surrounding scenery. On our 1st day we got up and headed off to go tubing. This used to be the big attraction in Vang Vieng until a few years ago when most of the bars along the river were shut down due to it being deemed too dangerous (alcohol, shallow water and rocks). After picking up our 'tubes' (big rubber rings) we headed upstream in a tuk tuk and jumped in, stopping at one main bar along the way and enjoying the scenery/chatting to everyone in our group. The following day we headed out to the blue lagoon which was a lot less visually impressive than it sounds. Despite this, in many ways it was more fun than tubing and we spent the day jumping into the lagoon from an overhanging tree, exploring the cave and relaxing by the edge with other travellers.
Sadly me and Poppy had booked a flight to Hanoi, whilst the others were heading further north to Luang Prabang so we had to part company and head to Vientiane. We'd heard from a lot of people that Vientiane didn't have too much to offer so hadn't planned on spending long there at all. After a look round the night market and a brief visit to a rendition of the Arc De Triumph we were ready to leave for Hanoi. Whilst we both would have liked to go to Luang Prabang neither of us fancied the 6 hour bus ride there from Vang Vieng and then potentially the 33 hour 'bus from hell' to Hanoi.
Landing in Hanoi we were initially surprised by the cool temperature and low humidity compared to other places we've visited so far. Getting the bus to our hostel we were shocked by the sheer number of mopeds driving around and the madness of the traffic here! Still, we're all checked into our hostel and ready to head out and see what the night market has to offer.
O & P
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