A Day in Two (2) Countries

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Him who made all things, for making this adventure possible despite all odds.

Yes, this was my first time to undergo such an extra-ordinary backpacking ordeal with some Filipino friends. We've been in three (3) countries in three (3) days. And I want to share you about the day that we visited Savannahkhet, Laos.

From Hanoi, Vietnam, we opted for a night trip to go to Dong Ha, part of Vietnam nearest the border of Laos. On January 27, 2009, we took off at around 8p.m., local time. Due to miscommunication between the guy who arranged for our trip and the bus driver who can't speak in English, we headed all the way to Hue, Vietnam, the last stop of the bus we rode in.It's about 140kms. from the border. We arrived in Hue at 6:30a.m. of January 28, 2009. Because we didn't stop at the expected place, we went through some unfortunate dealings just to meet our goal. We had to wait for the travel agency to open, bargain with them to arrange for our needs, and proceed with the schedules for the day. After three (3) hours, we came up with an agreement and were on our way. We made it to the border at around 1p.m. of that day. After passing through the border, we waited for a ride to go to Savannahkhet city proper. Then some men with their motorbikes had us hop into their vehicles and off we went. After about a three (3) minute ride, they dropped us at the bus terminal, claimed their pay and went away. Our going to the city proper was then in vain due to non-availability of transportation and time constraint.

Because we hadn't had breakfast and lunch this day, we started looking for something to eat at the bus terminal stores. We got busy roasting some goat's meat and hotdog. We also boiled some eggs and cabbages. What struck us all was the rice. It was THE most amazing thing and it was the only time that I tasted such.

The rice, as best as I can describe, was reddish, hard and dry, and a little gummy. It was perfectly cooked. Actually, it's ok to eat it even with the absence of other dishes. You can form balls from it using your hands and nothing would even stick on your hands. It has rich and somewhat sweet taste. I can affirm that the rice was heavy because all of us skipped dinner and didn't go hungry until the following day. With ordinary rice, I go hungry after two (2) to three (3) hours. (Someday, I will go back to Laos to look for this rice, get some and bring home for my family to taste.)


After our big meal and acknowledging that we couldn't proceed into the city, we turned back to the Vietnam border where our service was parked. We drove to Dong Ha to wait for our bus ride to go back to Hanoi. Then we were dropped at the stop-over for buses with the restaurant beside it and was accommodated by a very drunk waiter. Believing all the information given us were true, we had to argue for our bus ride again. Tired of all the events of the day, all we could do was succumb to the arrangements that Camel Travel had approved. At around 8:30p.m., we finally got into a sleeper bus and was back in Hanoi early the following day in time for Ha Long Bay excursion.