Today we say goodbye to the sounds of hundreds of Vietnamese motorcycles on 'auto-honk' in exchange for the 'real South East Asia' that Laos supposedly has to offer. We'll be doing the Vietnam/Laos border crossing that's been my biggest concern for this trip. Not that it's complicated, but I've found inconsistent bits of information on this crossing. We're boarding the 6 am bus from Hue to Savannakhet, a 7-8 hour journey. And the idea is that we'll arrive in Savannakhet at 4-ish, and immediately find a Vientiane bus to hop on to, which is another 8-11 hours on the road. It seems to make better sense to arrive in Vientiane in the wee hours of the night and have the entire following day there, instead of staying the night in Savannakhet and then wasting a whole next day on a bus.
It's been an amazing time in Hanoi and Hue. The people here have been incredibly friendly, although I think it helps that there's a cute blonde girl traveling with us. Yesterday when we visited the old Citadel, Jen seemed like a bigger attraction to some of the locals than the Forbidden Purple Palace itself. What I've enjoyed most about being in Vietnam has been to catch a glimpse of the people's (far simpler) way of a life. Although the country is a lot less modern and undeveloped than other places in Asia, a large majority of the people do not appear to be living in poverty, or even if they are, at least they seem to be at peace with life and aren't caught up with the stresses and worries that seem to bog a lot of us urban dwellers of developed nations. I imagine Laos will take us even further back in time, and hopefully show me how life can really be lived and enjoyed.
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