Northern Border Crossing Vietnam/Laos

Does anyone know if there is a northern border crossing between Vietnam and Laos that is accessible to tourists? Want to travel from Hanoi to Luang Prabang, without retracing steps by going south. Want to travel around northern Laos anyway so might be a good way to do it.

Any information on crossing, buses there and on into laos, visas etc is very welcome.

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You can cross to the North of Vietnam by Dien Bien Phu.

I don't know if that makes the journey to Hanoi any quicker though.

Have you looked at www.travelfish.org

Alot of this info is there.


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Not sure of exact border names but we crossed from Attapeu in Laos to Kon Tum in Vietnam. It's not right to the north but is about level with Hue or thereabouts...

We took a mini bus (we got the tickets through the Phouttavong Guesthouse in Attapeu) which was a bit of an experience - the guys who drove the van were shady characters and were basically drug runners as far as we could tell. There is a public bus which goes that route too but we'd read some accounts of being dropped in the middle of nowhere or being charged a fortune to make the onward journey from Kon Tum to Hue/Hoi An so we thought we were being clever and would avoid the hassle! I guess we did but suffice to say we had a rather nerve wracking journey.

Anyway, it was about an 8 or 9 hour journey from Attapeu to Hue (could have been done much quicker but our drivers kept stopping for refreshment breaks and at one point we stopped somewhere so they could have a nap and do some other deliveries) and then from Hue we picked up the train to Hanoi.
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