I’ve done this ride before but today couldn’t have been more different. For starters, it was cool and as we climbed up to the border, we were in a cloud. For the first time on this trip, it was rainy and cold.
I hadn’t noticed much Vietnamese influence in Lak Sao or nearby on my previous trip 3-4 years ago, but it was obvious now. It was also the Tet holiday period, so there were Vietnamese travellers as well as locals celebrating (over the last few days).
Lak Sao definitely seemed quieter. I was in the same hotel and had dinner at the same place over the road, but the once bustling restaurant only had a few customers, and the one next door was empty. Miles agrees that the Laos people seem more subdued this time. I’d actually met Miles and his wife, Clare on that previous trip in Luang Prabang (northern Laos) on that trip. Perhaps, it was the south being more subdued than the north. We also noticed that hardly anyone was smoking. It’s a pleasant change.
We left the hotel, went fifty metres, then turned right, onto the road to the border and that was the end of the directions for the day. I looked for any snacks on the way out of town but didn’t see anything that I felt like. Where were the Bao ladies today ?
As we turned right, we realised that it would be a headwind all the way. Apart from that, it was perfect for the last day in Laos.
Later, we looked for coffee and food at a few places. It felt to early for noodle soup but that was all we could get. After an hour or so, we stopped at a small restaurant, where the lady spoke no English but phoned a friend for us. The result was scrambled eggs and rice – scrumptious. That fueled us for the uphill to the the Nam Phao border crossing.
When we got there, it was drizzling and visibility was about 50 metres. After departing Laos, we rode further up the hill to the Vietnam border, but you simply couldn’t see anything. From the guard’s post, you could barely make out the building beyond.
Then followed the descent I’d been waiting for ever since I planned this route. Last time the road was under construction but this time …
This time, the road was perfect, there was no traffic, but … it was raining. I couldn’t even see the wonderful valley views of the jungle. Next time.
Twenty or thirty kms later, we rolled into Tay Son which, like the other villages along the way, was covered in flags and lights and people enjoying themselves. It’s a hell of an entry to a country. We felt like celebrities as everyone was calling out to us.
The hotel is a step up from anything (apart from Mimi’s) in Laos and Tay Son will be a great place for a rest day during the end of the Tet Festival.
We had a late lunch of Beef Pho with Tea, and then I sampled my first Vietnamese coffee in a few years – nice but the cafe was sooo smokey. I’ll need to get used to that.