I sit in the police compound. They run around with papers in their hand and talk excitedly to each other (in Vietnamese, of course), but never to me. Then they all disappear for a while. Eventually, they reappear, just to disappear again. It has been an hour of sitting here already. No one has said anything about how long I will be here, or, even worse, what the problem is. I cleared through the Laos border this morning, then walked about 5 or so minutes through "no-mans land" to the Vietnam border. There, immigration checked my visa for Vietnam. Next, a few feet away, another officer checked my visa before letting me cross the border. Four hours later I am stopped inside Vietnam and taken to the Police Compound.

Walking around the town you can find a few places with Christmas decorations up . They are the places that cater to tourists from the west, since Christmas is not a holiday in Laos. 

The air is cold here in Vientiane. When I left Thailand a few weeks ago, I was spending the days laying on the beach and soaking up the sun when I wasn't swimming. As soon as I left Thailand, though, the air has been cooler. Here in Vientiane, a couple of days it was rainy and too cold for comfort.

I said goodbye to the friends I had made here in Vientiane, especially the two guys from Sweden that I met in Luang Prabang. We said goodbye in Luang Prabang, and then a couple of days later, they showed up again here in Vientiane at the same hostel.

Tonight I leave the country of Laos and start on another "Epic Journey". I have the option of catching a flight from Laos to Vietnam. By plane, in 40 minutes, I can be in Hanoi. Taking the bus can take anywhere from 20-37 hours. You really don't know until the journey is finished . 

There are stories galore of the bus adventure from Vientiane to Hanoi. Horror stories of sitting for 30 hours on top of a bag of rice or next to a local carrying a caged rooster. The bus isles are so filled with bags and cargo, it's a ridiculous, laughable experience just to get off the bus at the meal stops. 

It's nothing out of the ordinary for the people in these developing countries, but quiet a sight for people like myself from a developed country. It's one of those trips you can't wait to get finished while you are doing it, but it makes for a good laugh and story later on. At least, that is what everyone says.

I can't see much of a story in a plane ride. But, the bus ride sounds like something I just need to do. At least, the backpackers that I talk with that have done the trip, laugh and talk about the 25-37 uncomfortable hours on the bus to Hanoi. But, all agree you just have to take it . Besides, I read an article about "The 7 Most Epic Journeys in Southeast Asia". This one is #2 on the list. The two day boat trip up the Mekong was also on the list. The slow boat trip up the Mekong turned out to be 'epic', so, maybe this is one I don't want to miss either.

For $18 I can take the sleeping bus to Hanoi. When you buy tickets for the bus here, they pick you up at whichever hotel you are staying at and transport you to the bus station. All included. One undeniable fact it that the buses here are a value for the money. They tell me, when I buy the ticket, that it takes about 24 hours. I don't say anything, but I have read and heard enough to doubt that.

The tuk tuk picks me up at the Sihome Hostel in Laos around 5:30 p.m. After collecting some other backpackers from around town we head for the station. We ride through harrowing traffic for 45 minutes. We start to think maybe we are taking the tuk tuk all the way to Hanoi .

At about 7 p.m. the bus pulls out of the station heading for Vietnam. At 2 a.m. we arrive at the Vietnam border, but it is closed for the night.

We stay on the bus until the border opens at 7 a.m. They run this route every day. Why not just leave around midnight and arrive here about the time the border opens?

A few minutes before 7, I leave the bus for the comfort station, which in these countries is just the side of the road. When I start to get back on the bus the driver is saying something and pointing up the hill, across the border. The only word I can understand is 'passport'.

Instead of getting back on the bus I walk up the hill, still not sure what I am supposed to do. Then I see a 'departure' station. I go there. I know I have to get stamped out of Laos before entering Vietnam.

By the time I find where to get stamped out of Laos, some others from the bus show up . I tell them where to go to get their departure cards stamped.

We gather outside in the cold morning air. What are we supposed to do now? No one knows. The driver does not speak english and we stand around wondering what is next. A few of us decide to walk back downhill to the Laos side where we left the bus. The bus is gone!

We walk the long line of busses but do not see ours. Normally I look at the license plate before leaving a bus to be sure I know which one to get back on. In the early morning and being caught off guard when I left the bus, I forgot to look at the plates.

The bus parked where ours was looks the same, but the driver is not ours. Finally, we return to that bus and try to find out where our bus is. It turns out they just switched from a Laos driver to a Vietnamese driver while we were gone, without letting us know.

He points and chats in Vietnamese to us though . He does not want to let us on the bus. We are stamped out of Laos and should not be back on this side of the border. The bus, once it gets an okay from the Vietnamese side will drive to pick us up. We didn't understand any of that, it was just the way it worked out.

We all headed back up the hill to wait, we didn't know for what. Once our bus started towards us when the rope was lowered but the Vietnamese guard made it back up.

Eventually it pulled up the hill toward us. The Vietnamse checked the cargo hold underneath the bus with all the luggage and packages in it. We all lined up with our Vietnam visas ready. Vietnam is the only country I have traveled so far that requires a visa in advance. In the other countries you can get the visa at the border.

Even though we all have our Vietnam visas already, it takes an hour to clear the border. We walk about a half mile and our passports are checked 3 times . At other borders they are always looked at once. These Vietnamese seem pretty suspicious of tourists.

Once back on the bus, we drive for 3 or 4 hours inside Vietnam. We go over mountains and the views are great, but the road is not. The road for miles becomes only muddy ruts. The bus moves at a snails pace, rocking back and forth for the next two hours, before stopping for lunch. 

After lunch we drive for about half an hour and are pulled over at a check point. The driver walks around the bus with the Vietnamese officers. They look in all the cargo holds once more. They were all checked at the border already.

Twenty or thirty minutes later the driver gets back on the bus and we think we are on our way to Hanoi, again. But, a police officer gets on the bus also and sits next to the driver. We turn around and head into town, to the police compound.

No one tells us what is happening then (or for the next hour) as we sit on the bus while the driver is inside with the police . Finally, one by one, we start to get off the bus, which is getting too hot to be comfortable now. We still have been told anything about what is happening. We sit around the police compounds' parking lot.

About 4 hours later, the police and driver start to unload boxes from underneath the bus. The boxes all say Baby Liquid Detergent on them.

We are motioned to load the bus. Someone asks the drivers helper, who speaks a little English, when we will get to Hanoi. He says 7 P.M. We all agree that will not be too bad and still early enough to find our hotels and settle in. We still don't know why we were here for 4 hours but are just glad to be on our way.

The driver get in his seat......and sits for 45 minutes. Then finally starts the bus. He drives for maybe 10 minutes and stops on the side of road in town. He crosses the street and enters a building. 10 or 15 minutes later he returns . Still, no one has told us anything. We always just sit and wait.

The bus finally pulls in to the Hanoi bus station. It is in total darkness. The station is empty and locked. The streets are dark, also. The tuk tuk and taxis we were expecting are not waiting here. It also is not 7 P.M. ... It is midnight. The driver's helper told us we would reach Hanoi by 7 P.M. The Asians usually tell you what they think you want to hear. They do not want conflict. I am sure he knew we could not reach Hanoi by 7.

We left the hostel in Vientiane, Laos at 5:30 P.M. the day before. Our journey has lasted 30 1/2 hours. We still have to get to where we will be spending the night. 
 
The streets are eerily quiet. We are in the middle of Hanoi. The street the bus station is on is several lanes wide in each direction. Yet, the streets are dark and there are no vehicles moving at all. Something is strange here. Welcome to Vietnam!