Tour de Lao 2010

This is a long post, but I promise that it is well worth it!  ENJOY!

I am standing on a 15 seater bus, crammed with 38 people, their luggage, 8 boxes of ramen, a motor bike strapped to the roof, and a box of Choco-pies (Chocolate covered marshmellow cakes--remember the Chocopies, it becomes important later on!).  The road is a dirt road that is still being built as we are on it.  This bus is taking me and 37 other people to from the Lao-Vietnam border to Oudoxai, a large town close to the border.  This is the town where we transfer to get to Luang Prabang, the old capital of Lao.  Let me back up and say why I am on this bus to begin with.

I decided to cross over-land into Lao from Vietnam at the Dien Bien Phu (DBP) border, which is in northern Viet Nam.  There is another easier route, which has direct connections from Hanoi to Luang Prabang via Vientiene (Central Border); however, on the map, this route looked about 200km longer than the DBP route, not as scenic and is a grueling 30 hours.  I also figured that since it route was 200km shorter, it would take less time and be cheaper--I was wrong with both assumptions!

The journey started in Hanoi, where I boarded an extremely comfortable coach which took me on a 13 hour journey winding up and down mountains to DBP.  When I got to DBP at 8:00am, I went to the bus station to transfer onto the bus which would take me into Lao.
1st Road block: I was informed that the bus from DBP left for Lao at 5:30am.
My Solution: Hop on a motor-bike taxi for a 45 min ride to the Border. 
Once I got to the border, I went through Vietnamese immigration.  On the other side, the immigration officer asked me how I was going to get into Lao. 
-I was kind of baffled and asked in response, "Isn't Lao outside of these gates?"
-He laughed and said, "No, Lao is 6km from this gate" (2nd Road Block)
-Trying to control my bewilderment, I asked, "Is there a shuttle?"
-He responds, "The shuttle left at 5:45am"
With my one time entry Vietnamese visa stamped "USED" and an exit stamp already on my passport, I had no choice but to continue on.  [My Solution] So I picked up with 40L green backpack and started my 6km (3.5 mile) trek, litterally OVERLAND to Lao.  At roughly 1/2 way to the Lao Border, I found a sign that said I was leaving Vietnam and entering Lao--as I said goodbye to Vietnam, I also said goodbye to paved roads.  As the dust picked up on my trek to the Lao gate, the thought of this "do it yourself border crossing might of not been such a good idea" creeped into my head.  Finally, after about an hour of dust and heat, I round the corner and saw the "Welcome to Lao" sign and with it, the immigration building.  As I walked a bit closer, I saw PEOPLE...and not just any people, but WHITE PEOPLE!  I got so so so excited!  I started to run towards the immigration building...in my mind, I thought, "Yes!  These people probally are on a private tour with their bus, and I can try to beg my way on to their bus to get to Luang Prabang!  This isn't so bad after all!!!" WRONG!
-I ran up to the first white person, and asked, "are you going to Lao?" 
-He said, "Yes"
-I then asked, "how are you getting there?"
and he pointed to a bus that already looked over-packed with things.  Then a Vietnamese man, who I later found out was the driver, ran to me and asked if I needed a spot on the bus, to which I responded, "YES!" and he led me through immigration and onto the bus.  Getting on the bus, the 30 White people started yelling at him, "NO MORE PEOPLE!!!" Feeling very unwelcomed, I stood at the door, hung on for dear life as the bus started to roll down the mountain on the dirt road.  I later discovered that this is the same bus that left DBP at 5:30am!!!!  Apparently, the people on it also had to get out and trek to to the Lao immigration building from Vietnam because the "road" was so bad.

The journey from the Lao border to Oudoxai is roughly about 100km (60 miles); however, it took us 13 hours to complete, due to the fact that the road was still being constructed as we were on it.  There were many parts that I felt like we were going to roll off the road into the valley below us because the bus was so top heavy.  About 3 hours into the trip, the bus makes a stop in front of what is a Meth/Heroine Rehab center.  The driver tells me that the road ahead is still being constructed and they won't move the pile of dirt for another 4 hours, so we have to get out and wait.  I then translate this to the 30 White people, and by doing so, instantly put myself in the position of translator/tour-guide.  Getting off the bus, there were two places for us to "hang out"--1. Sit on the dirt in the sun next to the hot bus, OR, 2. Walk up the hill to the rehab huts and sit in the shade.  I walked to the rehab huts.  By this time, hunger is setting in and there is no food or water to buy in sight.  People start pulling out little snacks and sharing it with everyone, and as we ate the little food we had, those in rehab looked on...

About 2 hours later, the bus honks and we all run down from the Rehab center and pile on.  The driver tells me we need to go quickly because they just cleared the mountain of dirt in front of us, but will soon put another mountain of dirt in its place.  He presses the gas, and we are off.  Once we get onto the other side, we realize that there are only 36 people on the bus now, and 2 White people have gone missing [Problem 3].  Well, our choices were either to go back by foot and look for them, or drive on.  [Solution] We waited for 10 minutes in the hot sun, and then DRIVE ON (so there could possibly be two random white people wandering the villages of Lao at this very moment!).  The journey continues, pretty uneventful, other than the bumps, dust, and constant getting out and getting back onto the bus because piles of dirt have to be cleared on the road.  At about 8 hours into the journey, everyone starts getting really hungry.  One of the girl then started to comment on how there is a box of Choco-pies and wonders out-loud, that if we take and eat it, if anyone would really notice.  I then get pulled in and am asked to negotiate with the driver to buy the box of Choco-pies for everyone.  Before I start haggling, all of the White people and myself agree that we would be willing to pay as much as $3/pie (this is extremely expensive considering in Hanoi, the entire box wouldn't be more than $3...however, desparate times call for desparate measures!).  So I ask the driver, who then shouts to the Vietnamese person in charge of the supplies. 
-He asks, "What box of Choco-pies?"
-I responded, "the one that is right above your head,"
-He saids, "there are no Choco-pies"
(I am simulaneously trying to translate from Vietnamese to English the conversation, as well as trying to point to the Vietnamese man the box of Choco-pies).  So as I point to him the box of Choco-pies, the White people around me are also turning, pointing and shouting at the box of Choco-pies.  The Vietnamese man then says, "oh, that box....it IS NOT Choco-Pies, it is just the box."  Such disappointment!  Our stomachs continue to growl as we continue on.

Around the 13th hour, our bus stops at a big river.  The driver says to me, "Everyone out, the bridge is closed, this is where the journey ends!"  I am hesitant to translate for fear of the back-lash from the White people (sometimes, people really do kill the messenger!).  So I just get out and look around.  Finally, I quietly tell one person, who then shouts it to the rest.  We wait for awhile at the river, then a wooden canoe comes and says that it can ferry us over to the other side.  We all pile in and once on the other side, we neogotiate that we want to go to Oduoxai.  A pick-up truck then arrives and we again pile again, all 28 of us, onto the back and continue our journey for another 3 hours to sleep before hopping on a bus for another 6 hours to Luang Prabang the next day. 

So when it was all said and done, a journey that was suppose to take, in my mind 13 hours from Ha Noi to DBP, and another 6 hours to Luang Prabang (19 hour total), ended up being:
Ha Noi to Dien Bien Phu (DBP): 13 hours
DBP to Lao Border: 2 hours
Lao Border to River: 13 hours
River to Oduoxai: 3 Hours
Oduoxai to Luang Prabang: 6 hours
Total: 37 Hours to cover 700km or about 430 miles.

Looking back, although I wouldn't say that the trip was worth it, a lot of memories were made, I met some really cool people, it was a very rural part of Lao that we got to cross, and the story of the trip makes a good laugh.

Fansipan Scramble

I made it to the summitt of Mt. Fansipan, the highest peak in Southeast Asia (3143m)!.  I started the climb at 7:00am at 1900m, summitted at 12:10pm, had lunch on top, which was extremely freezing, and then headed back down to 2200m to camp for the night.  The next day, woke up, and trekked down to 1200m through H'mong and Zay villages.  The trek ended with a traditional Red Zao foot soak and an all body massage back at the guest house!  Not to bad!

My knees are extremely shot right now and I am still sore all over...but the trek was definitely worth it!  Climbing through bamboo forest, scrambling over rock walls, swimming in cold and re-freshing swimming holes, and the view from the top of Fansipan were amazing!  Below are some pictures, enjoy!

Alley eating

Vietnam's national dish is considered Pho (Beef Noodle Soup), however, let me introduce to you "Bun Dau" or Rice Noodles with Tofu.

Alleyways in Ha Noi are my favorite place to seek out cheap and extremely tasty food.  There is an alley way right off of my front entrance in Ha Noi, where at 11:00am, vendors set up their food, little plastic tables and chairs.  As the vendors begin to cook, the aroma of their specialty fills the air: smells of lemon-grass, mint, and ginger mix with the odors of shrimp paste and fish sauce, creating a perfect balance of smells that welcomes the hungry to sit down.  By noon, the alley is packed with office workers, house-makers and other Hanoians, squatting on the plastic chairs, hovering over low multi-colored plastic tables, eating Bun Dau.  This image is set against a back-drop of colonial yellow colored walls remaining from the French era.  The branches of trees from the courtyards behind the walls create a canopy on top, sheltering patrons from the hot sun.

I take a seat and ask the lady selling for one order of Bun Dau.  Within 5 minutes, the food comes out on the tray: a plate full of mint, basil and other herbs, another plate of fried tofu that is crispy golden on the outside and warm and soft on the inside, a third plate full of round rice noodles, and a small bowl of purple shrimp paste mixed with kumquat juice and chili-peppers.  My mouth salivates as I look at the food.  I take up my chopsticks, get a piece of tofu and some noodles, dip it in the shrimp paste and put it in my mouth.  The mixture of the hot tofu with the salty-spicy-sour shrimp paste is countered by the cold noddles.  I then eat some mint and basil leaves to wash away the salty-spicy-sour taste and start the process over again.

After I finish the savory meal, it is time to move onto dessert!  The next vendor over sells "che," a sweet Vietnamese dessert consisting of condensed milk, coconut milk, sweet bananas, peanuts and tapioca balls, all mixed in with crushed ice.  It is the perfect way to erase the pungent shrimp paste taste from my mouth.

Main Course "Bun Dau:" 15,000VND
Dessert "Che:" 16,000VND
Total: 31,000VND

At 20,000VND to $1, the total meal comes to be around $1.50!

It is moments like these that I wish I could freeze in time: the amazing balance of favors created from such simple, amazing food, combined with the environment of alley-way eating.  In my opinion, this has to be one of the best kept secrets of Ha Noi.

China Beach: Erasing Footprints in the Sand

In front of me, white sand beaches stretches as far as the eye can see.  Waves are crashing against my feet, erasing my foot-prints behind me.    I am walking along China Beach on Viet Nam's central coast, between the sleepy town of Hoi An, and the bustling port of Da Nang. 

Over 40 years ago, this was the site where American Marines first landed in Viet Nam:  Battleships docked off the coast, tanks rolling onto Vietnamese soil.  My American history books label this as the Viet Nam War;  In Viet Nam, it is called the American War.  To the American government, the war was fought to protect liberty and democracy in the world;  to the North Vietnamese, the war was fought to create an independent Viet Nam, free of Western colonization.  To come to present day Viet Nam and not experience the legacy of war is impossible.  Still exists are American hangers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the gateway to Viet Nam;  Army bunkers still dot rice paddies in Central Viet Nam; children born with mental handicaps and limbs because of agent orange still exist throughout the country; children of American GIs, those with brownish hair and hazel eyes still walk through the streets, hawking their wares; craters made from bombs still exist, now used as duck ponds; and walls sprayed with bullets still stand in the Imperial City of Hue.

It is ironic that the North Vietnamese, the present day power in Viet Nam, fought long and hard to get rid of the Americans and its influences over Viet Nam, only to welcome them back with open arms 30 years later; only this time, instead of American soliders, guns, missles and artillery coming to Viet Nam, it is Nike, Ford, Hyatt, Hilton, Calvin Klein, and the list goes on.  To the majority Vietnamese today, there are no hard feelings about America or Americans for that matter, rather, there is an opening of arms, a welcoming in, and a desire to put the past behind in order to step forward towards a future, with one another.

My walk along China Beach is a perfect reflection of this irony.  Along this beach where the Americans first landed over 40 years ago now stand billboards advertising the newest resorts to be built within the next year.  Those resorts are the Hyatt, Sheraton, Hilton and Crowne Plaza.  The biggest and most recognized American names, coming back to Viet Nam and claiming a piece of this beautiful country.  Just as the waves erase the footprints behind me, so too does Viet Nam try to forget about the sorrows of the past to look forward to the future.