Trying to enter VIETNAM - HAPPY NEW YEAR or not

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No strike 3, so i'm back. From the guest house in Kong Lo we waited for a sawngthaew (local bus with basically 2 planks in the back of a truck, usually covered and the back open so you can get in and out) Within 1/4 hour one showed up, we hopped on, there was only one direction to go, to the main road 40 klm away. I guess that was the end of the route because everyone got off. We waited for another one going in the direction of Vietnam,not to long after we were on another one heading east to Vietnam going through serpentine roads linned by forest. The sawngthaew was overcrowded with locals carrying there goods with the smell of fish, tobacco and chickens. Sean and I ended up on opposite side , but we're smilling at each other. As this is the experience we were locking for. We got off in Lak Sao small town 32 klm from the vietnam border. The bible tells us there should be a direct bus to Vinh anywhere between noon and 2.00 pm. as this was past that time, we looked for some kind of accomodation, not much of a town , we havent seen any other tourist since leaving Kong Lo, which is not a bad thing. Found a Hotel, cant remember the name. We walked around, it got really cold and windy found "The only one" restaurant, it was true to its name. The neXt day at the bus depot (term used loosely) we were told by locals no bus to vietnam, maybe not for 5 to 10 days, not even to the border. A tuk tuk driver obviously offered to take us there for 20 usd. they sometimes quote in us$ in laos and vietnam. This is where sean and i had to make a quick decission that might seriously effect this leg of our trip. We opted not to go now, as we might be stuck at a border town for 10 days with no buses. So we hopped back on the sawmgthaew and back track about 80 klm to the main highway going south. At the intercection we were able to catch a '' real bus'' to Savannakeht. It was passed 9.00 by the time we found a guest house for the night.

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