The Road to Hell; Sapa to Laos

After several days in the mountains of northern Vietnam at the lovely town of Sapa, it was time to turn my attention to Laos. The options were limited; I could head back to Hanoi on the night train and fly or bus it from there, expensive, or I could go directly into Laos by bus from Dien Bien Phu a day’s drive away. I knew the route was arduous and long but I thought it would be just another day in paradise.....if only I knew.

This is a serious mode of transport for many

Now that sounds a little dramatic I know, sure I am still here so how bad could it have been? Terminal I guess, depending upon the skills of the drivers and the weather. If it is sunny then okay, however if it is raining forget about it, do not go!

Fortunately the weather was good for our departure early in the morning from the small square at the top of the hill in Sapa. My guesthouse had booked a ticket for me on the local bus and I had to scramble along with everyone else to get a seat with a little back support and hand purchase for the journey over the passes.

The few tourists that take this route seem to get varied advice on the state of the bus. I knew that it would be smallish, dirty and liable to breakdown occasionally but that it did make, in one piece, the daily route to Dien Bien Phu.

Leaving the town the road climbed higher and higher through multiple switchbacks and cloud filled valleys to the highest pass in Vietnam at Tram Tom. From here, at 2000m, the view was stunning into the valleys below and the silver springs waterfall cascading down the sides of the mountain added a real backwoods feel.

Evidently having your bus break down at least once is the norm on this route

After a few miles of twisting and turning a loud hissing could be heard from the rear of the bus, the driver was alerted to this and stopped to check on the cause. A flat tire was the culprit and they set to the task of replacing it while my fellow passenger and I took a chance for a nature break in ....well the nature.

On the road again we passed the town of Lao Chai and turned to the south for route 12 toward Dien Bien Phu. The road followed the river here and was spectacular, if narrow. The driver seemed to be constantly on the horn, he may as well have had it set to automatic. Oncoming vehicles swerved to avoid our speeding bus as we flew through small villages and hamlets belching black smoke from the exhaust. Green travelling this was not.

Route 12 is part of an important highway bringing supplies from the Chinese border, the French knew this back in 1954 when they tried to cut off the main artery for the Vietnamese troops of General Giap. It is not hard to imagine the lines of supply here weaving tortuously through the mountains from the border to the major crossroads to the south.

Today however it is the bulldozers and tractors that have supremacy, carving up the landscape in an attempt to widen this important road; effectively narrowing it to a small route with a sheer drop to the river below for most of the next 100 kilometres.

The bus creased the slippery edge several times, I was told later by someone who travelled the route a day before that they had to be towed away from the edge by a tractor as their wheels no longer had any purchase.

We made slow time though the road works passing through a mud bath of construction where, seemingly, a completely new town was being constructed. A new dam is being built in the valley and several villages are being relocated, I assumed that this was the result.

Keeping your eyes on the horizon was a good way not to notice the shear drop off

Finally the road works were over and our passage took a more attractive route through the valleys, passing small villages with local residents going about their daily business. I loved the window on the passage of daily life, women in bright traditional clothing carrying seemingly huge burdens on their backs, kids playing in the rivers alongside buffalo and the stilt houses dotted around the countryside.

After an hour more of “Top Gear” driving we finally cruised into the one horse town of Dien Bien Phu, scene of the French capitulation in Indochina, and I felt like kissing the ground, one more day to go.

I teamed up with some other travellers overnight and our party boarded the bus for Muang Khua in Laos at the nice and early time of 5.30am. I had already been awoken at 4am by the crowing of cockerels that narrowly survived being strangled.

Our bus was a mess! Piled high on the roof with goods for Laos, bags of stuff under the seats and only enough legroom for a four year old, this was going to be fun. The bus slowly cruised the streets picking up the local passengers from varying points in town and around the markets before heading for the hills once again.

The border here has only been open to foreigners for a few years and is still a bit of a novelty for the villagers to see westerners looking anxiously out of the window to the perilous drops below. The clouds flooded the valleys once more giving the look of an ocean with limestone pillars rising out of the depths. We struggled up the hill, the engine protesting at every bend, catching glimpses of tree covered rolling mountains for miles to come.

The Vietnam border was easily negotiated as was the really bad rate for Laos Kip offered by the border guards eager to make a buck. We all needed local money so we were collectively screwed on the exchange.

Onward and upward the bus climbed into the mountains, suddenly I was rocked from my reveries by the screech of the brakes and the sudden stopping of the bus. We had seemingly come to the end of the road, our passage blocked by two large bulldozers. “Now you walk” said the driver. “Walk where?” I asked. He pointed to a new building about a kilometre away in the distance.”Passports and visas” The road was a muddy crumbly mess as we clambered across the piles of dirt in sandals and sometimes bare feet finally making the Laos border post much to the amusement of the smiling officials.

The sight of children racing the bus through the villages was a welcome reminder that people do survie this journey!

Their mood was contagious and soon had us all smiling, apart from the passing over of way too many dollars for the visa and associated charges. The pause in the still mountain air made for a nice respite from the tortuous journey so far. The mountains seemed to go on forever. One of the guards who spoke good English came up to me and smiled, “Many more miles for you my friend” he said and pointed into the distance, finally walking away shaking his head in amusement.

 We did wonder what we had to do next until it was pointed out that the road would be open in two hours and the bus would come to meet us. The bad news was that it would only be open for an hour or two in our area and we would need to be quick otherwise we would be stranded up here for another three hours.

The roar of motorbikes breaking the peaceful mountain silence gave notice that the road was now open and we were pleased to see our bus lumbering along. We were rushed on board and the driver gassed the pedal speeding us into Laos proper.

I say proper, they seemed to have just built the gravel road cut out of the mountain side and it was looking none too good. I had a ringside seat for the precipitous drop below and concentrated on the beautiful views instead. We rumbled along rough tracks and muddy puddles, the driver gunning the tortured engine to the maximum in order to climb a pile of dirt that claimed to be a road, soaring off the crest and somehow controlling the skid to keep us on track, my heart nearly stopped.

We wondered if our barge was up to crossing the Nam Ou River at Muang Khua

It was gorgeous; there is no doubt that it was the most amazing bit of countryside I had seen for a while. Remote though, very few villages and extremely unsafe due to unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam war, a lasting legacy here in Laos with many people, mostly children, suffering injuries and death every year. There are UXO clearing operations but one look at the land here and you see the task as monumental.

Finally the bus descended into the valleys below, crossing through flooded streams and passing small villages where the occupants seemed cheerful and industrious. Children and adults alike waved to us with big smiles, perhaps they sensed we needed a bit of relief, passengers started to get off in their respective villages thanking the driver as they alighted onto wobbly feet.

The end of the line for us came soon enough, the Nam Ou River blocking our path to the small town of Muang Khua on the opposite side. We grabbed our packs off of the smiling driver and headed for the small ferry across the water in search of a steady chair and copious amounts of cold beer lao.

Our little group shared nervous smiles as we sat drinking our beers, one thing we agreed upon.....the next bit was going to be by slow boat.

Comments

• Andrea says:

  Ahoj Ivo.
  
  S kamoskou sa chystame na trip do Laosu a prave hladam cestu z Laosu do Sapa. Nasla som tvoj komentar a chcem sa opytat ci si absolvovala cestu z Laosu do Sapa a ak ano ci sa ti podarilo najst spojenie priamo z Laosu do Sapa. Diki moc za odpoved.
  
  Andrea

  6 months ago

• Vietnam Package Tour says:

  I don't agree with you as the road in mountainous area in Indochina is your option and my friend take this one and like it very much because of the nature and people along the border between Vietnam and Laos. it will be improved soon and I think let consider the road as your enjoyment of adventure tour

  7 months ago

• theworldtraveller says:

  Hi Iva,
  That road may well be improved almost a year on however it remains the only way to Dien Bien Phu from that particular part of Laos.
  It is possible to reach Vietnam farther south by transports from Luang Prabang and Vientiane but if you are going to be up the river to the north then strap on your seat belt! Enjoy the trip.

  1 year ago

• Iva says:

  Hi there!
  Im going to Vietnam in 5 days - beginning in Hanoi I plan to head south and then back up the north through Laos - so I was thinking of taking a bus from Laos to Sapa and now your story got me thinking it may not be the best plan... What do you suggest? Is there any other way how to get from Laos to Sapa except from the flight to Hanoi and then train to Sapa or the "Road to the Hell"?
  Thanks for the tip,
  Iva, Czech Republic

  1 year ago

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