Am heading for Luang Prabang and want to make my way to Sapa in Vietnam. Is there are a border crossing in the north of Laos or will I have to go back down to the south of Laos again. Have heard that there is a border but that it is only for locals. am getting a lot of mixed messages. Anyinfo would be much appreciated. Cath
1
sakya
Hi Cath
The border at Dien Bien is open
Sorry , about the sketchy details , but recently in Dien Bien we met a couple who had just come from Luang to Dien Bien on the one bus
They arrived at 11 pm , but the bus did break down for 7 hours and 2 hours with broken springs . Usual thing , loaded down with everything.The bus was from Dien Bien ( viet owned ) and doing a regular run.
From Dien you can catch a local bus to Lao Cai at 600am for about 84 ,000 but it can take up to 13 hours and by local bus I mean local.
You could always get off at Muong Lay to break the journey
I think they are the rejects from the coastal runs
Alternatively there is a small , much better bus , about a 10 / 12 seater for 115, 000 and leaves at 7.30 am . Takes about 8 and half hours.
But the current road works at the top of Cham Trom pass puts it out another 30 minutes or so.
The soup at the meal break at Lai Chau was about the best we have had anywhere
The small bus was great and travels at a decent speed which is good until they come to all those hairpin bends , a lot of trust in the brakes as you hit the bends at speed .
Great trip and of course you do see gaps , on the bends , in the safety barriers where perhaps the brakes didn't make it
The difference in price is worth every dong
We stayed at the Dien Bien Phu hotel 10000 /15000 dong ( scooter ) from the bus station , 10 minute walk from the market area
16 for a double but we splurged on a suite for 22 , includes breakfast
Cheers
2
dominic77
Purely anecdotal evidence from a guy I met in a hostel here in Hanoi who made the crossing into VN via the border near Sam Neua last week. He made it across, but had a lot of hassle, and it ended up being very expensive. Basically he ended up getting dumped in the middle of nowhere on the Vietnamese side of the border, and was in effect forced to pay several hundred US Dollars (!) for a taxi.
He said he would post an account of the border crossing on here, but obviously has not done so yet.
3
sakya
#2
Just goes to show how frustrating expensive and fun , travel can be.
My reference was to the crossing at tay trang near Dien Bien just 30 odd kms to the border
Did hear at Mai Chau that the moto boys wanted $100 to take you to the border crossing near Moc Chau.
Cheers
4
hanuman
Here's a link to a previous query by another cath to which koon from Malaysia, #8's postings and others might help:
Crossing the Tay Trang border
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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