Escaping the overpriced unattractiveness that is Vientiane, Hiro and I got on a northbound bus Friday morning. It usually takes about ten hours to get to Luang Prabang but we were up for an early delay. Not even two hours into the trip, our bus suddenly came of the road and stopped. A quick look at the front wheels revealed a broken steering. Not something to be fixed quickly at the roadside.

There isn’t really anything to see or do in Vientiane. Except for temples but I had my fair share of these. Thus I haven’t been doing much, just sitting at the Mekong, drinking cold Beerlao (quite good) and watching the sun set. Hiro arrived yesterday and in the next days we want to head up north to see rural Laos.

The weather in Vientiane is sunny with temperatures in the low 30s. Much better than Hanoi where overcast days and morning temperatures of 20° made the locals bring out their coats and jackets. It really was a bit chilly there. With the temperatures back in a comfortable range, I decided to get my head a bit of fresh air and went to the hairdresser around the corner. Now I’ve met a fair share of gay hairdressers in my life but none of them wore bras and see-through shirts.

Once again, time to get up early. My taxi was to pick me up at 6:30 and I needed some time to enjoy one of these Vietnamese coffees. The ride to the airport was shorter than expected and I arrived half an hour before check-in opened. That’s something new for a change, usually I queue up half an hour before they close. There was still a million and a half VND floating around in my wallet so I utilised the time to have a look for an exchange booth.

Absolutely stunning place, nice boat, good food. Could have stayed a couple more days. Off to Vientiane in Laos tomorrow. It would be 24-30 hours with the bus and I just can’t be ffff bothered to do that. Thus I splurged a bit and got myself a flight ticket. I’m really building a carbon footprint here, but as I flew more than 45,000 kilometres during the last 1.5 years already, it doesn’t make that much of a difference.

Hanoi’s old quarter is a busy labyrinth of small streets packed with shops and people. My hotel is somewhere in there and I just have to step out the door to be in midst the chaos. Before doing that I needed a coffee though and Vietnam is a good place to get one. Vietnamese coffee has a unique flavour, a bit sweet, and is extremely strong. Somewhere between a triple espresso and eating coffee ground.

5:30 in the morning, my alarm is ringing. Good thing my room has a window showing the sunrise over the Mekong - additional incentive for getting up. My bags are already packed (mostly), so half an hour later I’m ready for pick-up. Pretty much on time (for SEA standards) my lift arrives at the hotel and delivers me to the bus station. The company looks considerably more serious than the jokers that took me for my first ride here in Vietnam.

Can Tho is the capital of the Mekong delta and situated right next to a river. It’s called the Can Tho river but as far as I can tell from the map, it’s the Mekong waters flowing through here. My hotel is right next to the river front and I could observe a bit of the river life. They have some form of water tuk-tuk here, dodgy little boats piloted by old women who are as pestering as their land-based counterparts.

After leaving Phu Quoc, I had a couple of hours in Ha Tien before the bus to Can Tho departed around noon. The first part of the journey led along the Cambodian border up to Chau Doc. The road was a mess and for two hours the minibus basically jumped from one pot-hole to the next. The area on both sides of the road was heavily flooded, sometimes the water reached as far as the eye could see.

The south was discovered and I wanted to have a look at the more remote north of Phu Quoc. My favourite travel agent helped me to the usual transport and on late Wednesday morning I was on my way. Surprisingly the road north is in very good condition and stretches seemingly endless through the countryside. Usually that’s the kind of road to change to highest gear and under slight disregard of the speed limit seek an end of boredom.