13 to 15 August - Savannahket (Laos) to and at Hue (Vietnam) with coracles (Vietnam)

Vietnam Fuel Costs – Petrol 23,460 dongs/litre (£0.782/ litre), Diesel 21,980 dongs per litre(£0.733/ litre) with the exchange rate being £1 = 30,000 dongs. Driving is on the right hand side of the road.

Leaving the Leena Guest House at 0745 hours for the journey by sleeper bus to Hue, the time door to door took 12 hours and 45 minutes. The sleeper bus was quite basic in that the beds had a plastic covering which made things very hot, there were no windows that could be opened and for some the air conditioning was not too good. One oddity was that our shoes had to be taken off every time we went into the bus, a plastic bag being provided to carry the shoes. I was more than impressed with the toilets in the Savannakhet Bus Station as they would put to shame many of the toilets in the various hostels and guest houses that I have stayed in so far on this trip. The borders were relatively easy to pass through though the official at the Vietnamese border did ask for US$1 to process each passport even when we had a visa for Vietnam already. No bribe was paid.

Inside the coach with a top and bottom deck of seats

Laos Customs Building

Vietnam Immigration Building

The first blue (clean) river seen for a while

Seen on the way to Hue

Seen on the way to Hue

Seen on the way to Hue 

Carving on the side of the monument

    



I do not know what I expected to see in Vietnam, perhaps a poor country with not many buildings, but everything looked normal for this part of the world. The countryside was green; the roads were good; there were plenty of houses and new building; cafes and restaurants were everywhere and the people looked happy and well dressed; there was an Anglican Church (and was told later that one area near Hoi An is a catholic area), there were plenty of motorbikes, bikes and electric bikes (I wish I had an electric scooter or bike to use in the UK) in everyday use and the majority of riders wore crash helmets. 

On arrival at Hue we stayed in the Hue Backpackers Hostel, and at that time of night there was plenty of noise from the street which was full of tourists eating and drinking, I thought it was hell on earth! We were fourteen to a room, three sets of single bunks (6 people) then two sets of double bunks (8 people). I have never seen double bedded bunk beds before and think it is disgusting to put double beds in rooms with single people. Even some of the younger people on the trip agreed with that sentiment!

During a DMV (De-militarised Zone) tour with Derrick we stopped at Cha Tung fishing village and cemetery. The village was on the side of  river and there were many coracles there. These were much bigger than those made in Wales, certainly bigger than the one I made with my grand-daughter before I left on this trip, and they were old and heavy judging by the amount of tar on the canvas and the thickness of the bamboo used in the frame. They were used every day for fishing and appeared to be well looked after. 

Coracles

Coracles

Coracles in daily use

Fresh fish

Fresh fish

This lady was making bread on a charcoal fire and it tasted fine

         The Vietnamese Cemetery

        

Street Views 
  

A tank in the grass

   

Coffins at the roadside

Independence Monument

A bonsai bougainvillea 

A late afternoon sun