And finally… Hanoi!

Early wake up to take the bus in Luang Prabang. Turns and more turns, mountains and more mountains, stop to eat, sickness, back to the bus, turns and more turns and mountains and more mountains, stupor and siesta under a scorching sun, wake up and more turns and more mountains and after 8 hours of turns and mountains Ponsovanh, town in Laos famous for its mysterious plains of giant prehistoric stone jars and for the amount of bombs dropped onto the surrounding area. Exhaustion and illness after so many turns and more turns. Stop on the way to recover. Back to the bus, more turns and more mountains and dense fog and the border with Vietnam. Passport and papers, and more bus and more mountains and more turns. And fog that turns to rain and roads that turn into dirt tracks and a landscape turning greener and greener. And more bus…. And 12 hours later, Vinh, a town without much to offer except the option to recover. An early start and more bus and less turns in our way north. And, finally, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam with its colonial and Asian mix, its baguettes and rice, its cosmopolitan air and its local charm… its grey sky and its tropical heat.