We left Thailand on Feb 28th and entered Laos, via the Freinship Bridge into its capitol Vientiane, a very attractive French Colonial Town with the Laotian version of the Arc De Triumphe finished off with cement donated by the USA to build a new runway at the airport, some of it got diverted!!
On our journey to Luang Prang next day we encountered several sets of roadworks, not too much Health and Safety in evidence!! LP is rich in history, with a beautiful old French Colonial Quarter with, (thankfully) some excellent restaurants serving recogniseable food! All this set alongside the mighty Mekong river.
Next day as we travelled North to the Vietnam border we crossed the Mouang Khoua river on this modern up to date ferry, the tug was holding the ferry against the current, then when all cars were aboard it moved round to propel the ferry forwards. It was attached with a partly severed steel cable!!.JPG)
ONce we crossed into Vietnam we soon saw evidence of Vietnamese agriculture and the terraced rice fields. We stayed the first night in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu, the town where the French were beaten by the Vietnamese in 1954 and surrendered the country back to the Vietnamese
Leaving the town the following morning after an evening in a 'quaint' local hotel we saw this poster motivating the populace to greater things!!!!!!!
These fellows had decided to ty a little vehicle maintenance at the side of the road, nothing much just a front axle swap, but hey, they were having fun, just like Ho Chi Minh said they would!
Many of the womed we saw today wore the traditional dress of the Hmong, the tribe/group/ call it what you will, that populate the mountains we have travelled through today ( March 4th).
This was taken on the hill town of Sinho where the market was in full swing, the lady third from the left didn't like me taking the photo, but I told her she wasn't as ugly as the other ones so she shouldn't object. Scoured the market for a pic nic, but not a slice of ham in sight so had to make do with two tomatoes!!Now in loveley hotel in the mountains, off to Hanoi tomorrow.
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