We wandered the misty streets heading for a random street corner where we had been told (by the Vietnamese Tony Soprano the night before) the bus for Lai Chau picked up passengers. When we got there a bus waited with a sign for Son La. As I remembered it our itinerary should have gone:
Lai Chau for one night,
Dien Bien Phu for one night,
Son La for one night
and then on to Hanoi.
This route was necessary because of the distance and condition of the roads between all these towns. But seeing the possibility of a bus straight to Son La was kind of intriguing. After seeing a bus for Dien Bien Phu pull up, bursting with passengers, rice bags and chickens, we decided to take a chance and hop of the bus marked "Son La". No one on that bus spoke English so we couldn't really verify where we were going or how long it would take but we felt energized and ready for an adventure. The one thing we could ascertain, via Jessica's calculator, was that it would cost us significantly less than our hotelier wanted to charge for half the distance.
After about fifteen minutes up a winding, dirt road we came to a stop behind twenty other cars and buses. There was a landslide up ahead. Two bulldozers and a backhoe were trying to push some red earth around so we could pass. But in the meantime a small celebration had begun. People poured out of their minibuses and cars to chat. Women had set up small grills where they roasted sweet potatoes, eggs, water chestnuts and bamboo. Jessica made a few friends, had some tea, had her photo taken with a dozen guys and got a present. I went up ahead to take photos of the "construction".
About an hour later we were off. It was a truly spectacular ride. Limestone mountains, waterfalls, misting valleys, rice terraces, banana trees stretching out for miles, thai stilt houses, temples on distant hills. Our passengers changed frequently. The driver would honk wildly as we passed anyone on the side of the road. Sometimes they would grab a bag and jump on with the bus still moving, sometimes they would wave us past. Children would shout "hello!" and run up to the window to wave. Water buffalo, dogs and ducks would wander into our path and the swerving and honking would increase. Sometimes the sky would darken and open up to pelt us with heavy rain drops and our backseat would flood.
It was an awesome ride.
It started to get dark as we crossed into Son La. Everyone kept asking us "which hotel?" but we just wanted to go to the bus station to look up schedules to Hanoi. The bus slowed just before we reached the station and a woman and man jumped on shouting "hotels? sleep? hanoi?". We rolled to a stop inside the station walls and I spotted a sign in a bus for Ninh Binh. That had been our next destination and we had assumed there would be a grueling journey through Hanoi, but there it was in eight gorgeous letters! I checked the schedule inside as the woman determinedly grabbed my pack and called "hotel, hotel" repeatedly. I ran to catch up and she showed us across the street.
Our guidebook had mentioned that many of the hotels in Son La doubled as brothels, but with night falling and the bus station so conveniently close (for our 5am departure) we couldn't really argue or go searching for alternatives. The sweetest woman led us up past the rooms with curtains instead of doors to what must have been her nicest suite (with a wooden door: BONUS). It had a balcony and lacey canopies plus a Spice Girls nightstand. We went out for a quick dinner at a local Com Pho and crashed.
I set the alarm for 4:30 and we were up and motivated. Jessica showered first, but we kept the lights off in the main room because we feared you could see in through the tinted glass windows which lacked curtains. I guess this made the prositute left in charge of us think we were still asleep and she tried to wake us up several times by banging and shouting at the door. When we were dressed we opened the door to her. She came in and got excited about us missing the bus, standing there as we finished packing. Then we were escorted to the bus station in darkness, where someone else took over escorting us to the ticket window, where someone else took over escorting us to the bus, where someone else took over showing us to our seats.
I guess they don't get a lot of tourists in Son La...
We've spent our two days in Ninh Binh well. It was mercifully good weather. Yesterday we took a local bus to Phat Diem to visit the town's cathedral. It's strange how many catholics there are in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Buddhists just do not get it and come to gawk. In the cathedral in Phat Diem (a working church, with daily service) some guy jumped the gate and climbed into the pulpit shouting excitedly for someone to take a photo!
Today we rode on the back of motorbikes to the Cuc Phuong National Park. They have a rescue center there and care for many endangered species of primate. We also did a 7km loop walk completely uphill (or so it felt)! Absolutely beautiful jungle and worth the hike. On the way back to Ninh Binh we took back roads which were stunning. Our drivers stopped to show us the gear of the local fisherman. They had two long poles that I thought were regular fishing poles until they touched them together. An electric shock spit sparks into the street. They shock the fish in the water and then just collect the startled creatures into wooden baskets! Keeps them fresh I guess...
Now we are exhausted and about to hop on a "luxury bus" (God, help us) to Lang Co Beach.
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