Sapa to Dien Bien Phu

We got on the Bus of Hell to Dien Bien Phu, the bus itself was very crowded and cramped, the legroom just about adequate for a small child with bars in the seats you could feel digging into your legs, it was about as comfortable as a kick in the bollocks! The 9 hour or so journey has to go down as the most uncomfortable journey I've ever endured, that said it's not as bad as other people on the internet make out and it makes alot of sense to use this border to enter Laos ,we met a nice French couple on the bus that were destined to become our saviours at a later date.

We arrived in Dien Bien Phu some hours later and we set on our journey to get some US Dollars for the border after rumours thats all the Laos border will accept is Dollars and Baht (They accept all currencies, they just give shit rates). We found a Gold/Jewellery shop beside Agri Bank that would exchange it for us for us (the Vietnamese Banks will not exchange Dong for Dollar for some reason) for an almost criminal rate. DON'T, I REPEAT DON'T USE THIS CUNT FOR EXCHANGING MONEY, HE IS AN ABSOLUTE SCUMBAG (You'll understand why I use such harsh words in my next entry).

We stayed in a guesthouse right across the street from the bus station which was handy and cheap, we went looking for somewhere to eat,but as we are in the heart of North Vietnam very few people speak English. we managed to order some fried spinach with garlic and a massive plate of rice, It hit the spot along with the 2 Hanoi Beers. It was now time for bed as we have to get up around 4:30am to catch a 5:30am bus.