OK a quick instalment before I set off on another train journey.
Our last day in Luang Prabang and Laos as it goes was spent climbing 403 steps up to see more temples! Phousi temple. It had to be done while we were there and it happened to be a baking hot day which made it even harder work! ahh!! Really weird half way up there were baskets of little birds that u could buy and set free at the top which is meant to bring u luck! I felt so sorry for the little things trying to get out so ofcourse bought one and took it to the top with me! one of them got it's head stuck in between the straw which freaked me out but a lady helped him back in.
We hung about all day, waiting for our 24 hour bus journey to Vietnam-Hanoi and decided to get a nice half hour back massage which was the worst massage I've ever had! They made me sit up with my clothes on and prodded up and down my back, after 20mins I told her stop and walked out waiting for Amy- horrified! lol.
This was the journey from hell!! We set off at 6pm and were on a bus which didnt look too bad to start with; reclining sleeper chairs, air con..ok all good. We were on the back row so sqeezed up with 3 other people. There was a pig under the bus (with our luggage) alive and shoved in a woven strawed basket where it couldnt move! There were chickens all squished in to a basket and stuck ontop of the bus! They were about to endure 28hours of being wind swept!!
The drivers were young Vietnamese guys who drove like maniacs, beeping there horn constantly, sniffing cocaine and they basically drove for hours and hours on end without stopping so we were having to go 8 hours with no toilet break, no food stops! when we finally did stop at places it was absolutely vile! the food u wouldnt feed to your dog, flies everywhere, skanky toilets and it stank! lol. So glad we took our cookies and crisps to keep us going on the journey otherwise we would have been very upset!!
The people around us on our bus were nice - a welsh couple infront, a guy from London at the back with us called Zee and a Japanese guy, Ho.
Crossing the border was a nightmare, took ages and a few people were denied there visas and had to pay more money to get another one! such a con..the seats were uncomfortable and the bus stopped in random places every hour or two for 30mins at a time, delivering stuff..we even had police pull us over at one point which took an hour to sort out whatever the problem was.
The 24 hour journey from hell turned into 28.5 hours, getting us to Hanoi at 10.30pm and we wasnt sure if our reception would even be open to let us into our rooms...luckily it was.
Anyway everyone was mortified after that journey and all swore we wouldnt do that again! awful awful experience...but different I guess!!
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