We were in Sapa, northern Viet Nam when we decided it was time to move on to our next country. The nearest border crossing for Laos from Sapa is located just west of a town called Dien Bien Phu, Viet Nam. We didn’t know much about this particular border crossing, but based on our past experiences we decided we’d simply take a bus to Dien Bien Phu and figure it out as we went along.
We squeezed into a minivan at around 7:40 in the morning and headed west through beautiful mountain towns and rolling hills. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant where the only option was noodle soup with pork (I skipped lunch). We continued on, only to stop a few hours later behind a line of cars. Hmmm….what was the problem?? The driver hopped out to see what was going on, as did some of the passengers. Examination of the situation found that the holdup was a giant pile of dirt in the middle of the road. How did it get there? I don’t know. Action was being taken immediately, as four people with shovels were hard at work. Motorbikes zipped by and rode over the mound of dirt, not bothering to wait. After about ten of fifteen minutes of shoveling, one side of the mound was low enough to be driven over and we were again on our way.
Eight and a half hours after leaving Sapa, we found ourselves in Dien Bien Phu. Uh-oh… No one was approaching us after we exited the bus asking to take us across the border. How far were we still? Consulting our guidebook it looked like we needed to get to Tay Trang, a town that (according to our map) could be in either Viet Nam or Laos. We hopped in a taxi and headed here, hoping to make it before the border crossing closed. It took us about an hour to arrive at the Viet Nam border, where our driver dropped us off and bade us good luck. We obtained our exit stamps and left the building, easy enough. A security officer approached me for one final check of the passport, then told me it would be a six kilometer walk to the Laos border. We had no option but to laugh at our situation and hope that our journey would be mostly downhill and that we’d make it before the sun was completely set.
After walking for about five kilometers, a truck was passing. We stuck out our thumbs, hoping to catch a free ride for the remaining kilometer since it was quickly getting dark. What luck! They pulled right over and carried us to the Laos border. The office window said the border was open from 7:30am – 7:30pm. More luck, as it was only around 6:30 when we arrived. An entire hour to spare, but not a border town or light in sight….hmmm…. We waited around for a bit, and walked from building to building looking for someone to issue us visas and legally allow us into the country. After about 35 minutes, a man finally approached and asked us what we needed. After discovering that we didn’t have visas or transportation from the border, he recommended we pull out our sleeping bags and wait until the morning to obtain our visas as there was no bus until around 8am the following day. We all just laughed at the situation and went to a small restaurant to enjoy some fried rice for dinner.
We opted to have an early night as we knew we’d have a difficult time sleeping and also have to rise early in the morning. Luckily, the border police also sleep in the building, so the doors were left unlocked which meant we could sleep with a roof over our heads. We bundled up in layers of clothes, and then lay down on the granite floor with a sheet hoping that the wind wouldn’t be too strong. The night of sleep started off well, but once the real night set in and 2am rolled around, everyone was shivering. Brad and I cuddled together and kept our heads under the sheet to create warmth. Noel and Tim rolled around and ended up having on more than five layers by the time morning came (and very little sleep).
We rolled around on the floor after waking before finally sitting up and starting the day. We packed our sheets away and removed our extra layers. We were standing at the window before 7:30, waiting for the official opening. 7:30 came and went and the office still wasn’t opening. “Wait,” said a uniformed man as he walked by us toward a restaurant to eat his breakfast. Around 8:15 someone finally came to the window and gave us forms to fill out. We then waited some more before being asked for our forms. A lot of waiting and extra fees later, we were finally issued our Laos visa. Now, how do we get to the next town??
Groggy and a bit cranky from the lack of sleep, we all stood around wondering what to do. We were approached by a dude asking, “Bus?” “Yes, please! How much?” I asked. Of course, he quoted some exorbitant amount. Eventually, we got him down to $5 each for a 2 ½ hour ride to a small river where we left the bus and hopped on a small boat to cross over to the town of Oudomxay. Hungry and tired, we stumbled into the first restaurant we spotted and had lunch before walking two kilometers to the bus station in order to catch a bus to Luang Prabang.
Now that we’ve made it safely across, the whole situation seems hilarious. Definitely an adventure and another story we can add to our list!
-Renee
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