Hellish Hanoi to Lovely Laos!!!

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Natasha Burrell Following the Ho Chi Minh Trail took us to Hanoi, the capital city in the North of Vietam! Oh joy, such a delightful hell hole! We really did try to like it, but once we had been duped into the grubbiest digs in the history of man (including Prehistoric caves!) we knew we were in for a rough ride! It seemed that all the North Vietnamese wanted to do was take our money, but who can blame them it is splendid, and just be generally unfriendly!! If there was a Tax to be added they would add it, infact we were taxed on the amount of tax we paid, much like the UK!

Laura went on her merry way back to Blighty and we decided to get out of Hanoi quick sharp! This lead to the pinnacle of our Ripped-Offness and paying 18 dollars for a bus ticket to laos, which we should have really been paid to take...

Not wanting to whinge, as we were very lucky to actually get a real seat, and not a plastic stool in the aisle that some had to sit on for 22 hours!! It was interesting to note that the six tonnes of 'chocolate' took priority over the paying passengers, which lead one to believe it was more than chocolate inside the many boxes? Perhaps we had borded the Opium Express? Anyhow, after several uneccessary stops that involved the driver geting off and arguing with other Vietnamese passers by, we finally got to Lao!!

Although we were bloody knackered and angry that 22 hours of our life had been taken away from us we were struck by the change in atmosphere from vietnam to Laos, and the apparent lack of vehicle noise and constant horn honking (for those of you that dont know the vietnamese sit on their horns when driving and not their seats!).

We stayed a few days in Vientianne, the capital and just recovered from the Nam! There were plenty of Cafes, nice food and great architecture thanks to the French influence*. The people were laid back and friendly, and not nearly so obvious in their attempts to take our money!! The only thing missing for us in Laos was the sea... So we decided to look up some flights on the faithful Air Asia site and bought a flight to Borneo in Malaysia... and this is where we speak to you from now!! Hello!!



*Disclaimer: We would like to point out that we are merely appreciating the wonderful baguettes and pastries produced in laos and in no form thanking the French for anything at all!!

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