I got up early so I could see if anyone was open for breakfast at 6am. I had to wake the Nice Hotel manager up since we had been locked in for the night. I went across the street and ordered an omelet, Lao coffee, and a bread roll all for just 40,000 kips.
The tuk-tuk driver was prompt and I got on the little bus that was leaving at 7am and fortunately got the single seat by the door. They were piling stuff on top of the bus and in some places on the bus. It became apparent that the drivers here operate like UPS and also deliver goods like bags of rice, electrical chords with grinders, various toiletries, big bags of bread, etc.
I had noticed that the bus seemed to be really herky-jerky and it would stall out. It turned out that one of the brakes had frozen up. He worked on that a bit, but then he couldn’t get the bus started unless he put it in reverse and popped the clutch. That didn’t work so well so he pulled out one of the batteries and installed one he had that was under my seat. After 40 minutes of bus maintenance we were back on the road—just hoping the repaired brakes do their job over this mountainous road.
All the seats were taken as were the floor and the two bags of rice that doubled as seats.
One woman we stopped for had her wicker backpack loaded with grasses she had cut and was returning to her home. Quite a sight.
When we finally got to Nong Het, the bus station was just a clearing across from the local market. There were no tuk-tuks, jumbos, taxis, or motorbike drivers offering anyone rides. Just short of town, the driver pulled over to collect fees from the passengers.
Just near the motorbike parking area, I spotted a group of teenagers sitting and talking on their motorbikes so I asked them if someone could take me to the border, Nam Khan, some 14 km from here. The fellow, Lau, unloaded a bag of rice from his bike and offered to take me, and away we went. We had not even discussed the price.
Lau was a student and was eager to speak English with me on our cautious journey.
Lau got me to the border by 12:50 PM and the other people there told me that the Laos Immigration departure office would open at 1 PM. What good timing for me.
There were only 5 people and two watermelon trucks waiting for the reopening of the border. Transportation onward looked pretty scarce.
The Laos Immigration Officer took a long time with my passport as I looked at other locals going through by showing some paperwork and then giving the officials some money. I thought maybe my official is waiting for me to hand him some money. Instead, I think he enjoyed looking at all of the various visa stamps in my passport.
It was then off to the Nam Can, Vietnam Immigration area some 300 yards from the Laos border where they did a pre-clearance at a little booth and then I went into the Immigration Hall.
After leaving Laos, at the Vietnam Immigration border at Nam Can, the Medical Quarantine Officer first used an infrared camera, took my temperature, and had me fill out where I had been, the transport I took my email address, where I last was and where I am staying in Vietnam. They then gave me a signed quarantined office document with hotline information on it if I develop any symptoms. He had me use their hand sterilizer gel as I was leaving.
I bet the US isn’t doing anything like this other than banning people from countries because of their color and not a condition.
Once cleared there were no minivans, no taxis, and only 3 motorcycle drivers and they seemed to be working in concert with each other jacking up the price from 400,000 to 600,000 for a 60-mile ride to Hoa Binh village. I went with the first guy who had helmets that barely fit me, but then they had some words and I saw the guy with the mustache slip my original driver 200,000 kips and now I suddenly was going with the other driver with a bigger bike but no helmet. He called to someone in the first village down the road and when he pulled over, a little kid brought out a helmet for me.
On this very long bike ride down this mountain pass, my injured knee started hurting some so I had to stretch it out occasionally to let the pain go away. With over half of the way to Hoa Binh village, my butt started to hurt so I was able to lift it up occasionally for some relief. This cured me of ever wanting to motorbike through the mountains of Vietnam like so many tourists do.
He dropped me off at a place where locals told him people waited there to flag down buses heading to Vinh which was right by the big Hoa Binh Hotel. It looked expensive so I walked around a bit and concluded that there weren’t any other hotels I could locate. The manager said that the cost was 400,000 dong per night—$17 USD.
The rooms were pretty tired out looking with lots of stains on the carpet and one of the walls looked like someone threw a glass of red wine on the wall. All of the other hotels I have stayed at had tile floors and after seeing the condition of this carpet I can see why.
The mattress had a crinkly and slipper plastic cover the mattress. I suppose this hotel gets some pretty heavy short-time use from patrons of the Karaoke place next door.
I went out looking for a restaurant and after I sat down he brought me a big bowl of Pho Ba without even asking. That is all they served.
While I was eating, a couple came to get some takeaway food. While waiting, he came over to me and said that he was a high school English teacher. We talked a bit while he waited for their food.
While I was eating, a couple came to get some takeaway food. While waiting, he came over to me and said that he was a high school English teacher. We talked a bit while he waited for their food.
I had not seen any tourists since I left Michael in Phonsavan nor would I until I boarded the train in Vinh bound for Dong Hoi.
I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my travel adventures there. That link is
https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold.
If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.
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