Just getting off our bikes from the Ha Giang loop, we had a bus the same evening to Sapa, to leave Vietnam before our visa expires the day after!

We only had one day to spend in Sapa. From there a night bus would take us Dien Bien Phu, where we would take another bus to cross the border to Laos and to Muang Khoa, the nearest town.

In Sapa we could immediately feel the stronger touristic vibe as ladies in traditional clothes stopped us every 10 meters to sell handicrafts. After lunch, we stopped on a square to play Da Cau with Leo (the “foot badminton” game!). Soon a local boy joined us; he was a lot more talented than us and made the game more fun. Until the cheap toy broke and we had to stop!

While we were playing, a heavy fog fell on the town and soon we couldn’t see 5 meters in front of us!

The bus to Dien Bien Phu was supposed to come around 6pm, but it got delayed because of the fog. After a few hours, the hotel (from which we organised the trip to Laos) graciously gave us a room to get some rest, as the bus was still not coming.

Suddenly, around 11pm maybe, they knocked on our door and we had to run to the bus!

The next morning, we reached just on time to hop on the next bus, to the Laos border. With us, mostly Vietnamese folks and 3 other tourists. When we reached the border, two of the tourists (from Denmark and Slovenia) believed they could do Visa On Arrival, but it was refused and they had to return! By chance, Mary had done the research for us, and we had our visa ready, from the embassy in Hanoï. We hopped back on the bus and continued to Muang Khoa in Laos.

From there, we were to continue straight to Nong Khiaw, our first “official stop” in Laos. But it wasn’t going to be so easy! There was no bus right away; we had to spend the night here and in the morning we’d have two options: either go by boat or by bus.

Muang Khoa is a cute little town, nothing fancy or very scenic but a quiet vibe and friendly people. In the evening, I took a stroll by the pier to take some pictures while Leo and Mary took a nap.

The boat option is 5 hours on a small boat, sitting on a wooden plank, and there were risks of heavy showers, so it didn’t seem so appealing. Plus it was more expensive than the bus. So we chose to take the bus.

Wrong choice!

There is no direct bus to Nong Khiaw. We took a first bus to Oudomxai, from there we would take another bus to Pak Mong and from there another one to Nong Khiaw.

Two hours down the road to Oudomxai, our engine breaks! We have to wait for an hour or so in the middle of the road, under crushing heat, for another bus to pick us up. When we reach Oudomxai of course, we’ve missed the bus to Nong Khiaw and we must spend one night here!

After a late lunch / early dinner, we visit the nearby temple, where the monks are busy doing the paint.

Finally, this morning, we managed to take the bus to Pak Mong and then a tuktuk to Nong Khiaw, after 3 days of back to back bus rides, and too tired to do anything!

Tomorrow we’ll start visiting Laos 😅