We woke up 4 o'clock early morning, after we found ourselves getting warmer in the bus cabin. We realise that the bus is parking at the road side, about 40km from the Cau Treo border, with the engine and air-con switched off.

This should not have happened, compare to what we've told by the operator. We guess, the border would not open for crossing even we'd arrived before 7:00am, and the bus driver find a safe place for the night.

Monica was sweating, me too. I suggested to get some morning breeze outside, at least to cool down our body temperature. We were actually in a small township, and the bus is parking in front of a guest house affiliate with Sinh Cafe.

It's too early for any shop to start business, what else can you do in this situation? Too warm to sleep in the bus, too dark to walk around, too early to buy food or drinks. Oh, I remember I did bring some instant coffee bag and a few pack of biscuits in my bag. I have hot water in my Thermos, too. A simple and rejuvenating breakfast was served.

We finally killed all the time we have before the bus driver heat up the engine and ready to move. Another half an hour drive, we arrived at the check point.

This border is very quite, only few locals and a few foreigners, including us was queueing for stamp. The leaving tax for Vietnam Immigration is US$ 1.00 per person. You may pay 15,000 Dong instead, as you don't have a chance to use it in Laos.

The border building for Vietnam side is more elegant than the Laos side, but service from both side are as good. We only took about 20 mins for the whole border crossing, include the time we spend on walking pass the national border of two countries.

Laos immigration building is more cultural looks, like temple-style roof, staircase.

Malaysia is one of the ASEAN countries, Monica and I need not apply visa for entering Laos. We only need to present our passports over the counter, and acquire a stamp from the officer, no payment needed.

When all the documentation done, we back to the bus.

Laos and Vietnam is totally different, in term of people and geography. The first difference we noticed was the written words, Vietnamese(tiếng Việt) is written in Latin alphabets (previously in Han character), where Laotian(ພາສາລາວ) is written in abugida.

The bus brought us to a Laotian restaurant for breakfast, right after crossing the border.

After meal, the journey continued bound for Southen Bus Station (Dong Dok Bus Station). Later, we took local bus heading to Talat Sao bus station.

There are few tuk-tuk welcomed us after we get off the bus at Talat Sao bus station around 3pm. But we prefer walking, since we have all the time in the world, no hurry.

We manage to find a guest house in only 1 hour. The guest house named Lao Sa Konh, Francoius Nginn Street. It's located less than 500m from Mekong River. Price at 40,000kip or US$ 5.00/room (shared bathroom) per night. Paying in kip is cheaper compare to USD.

A must try in Laos - Beer Lao

Beer Lao is the famous larger in Laos, almost every beverage shop, restaurant or grocery shop sell, and the marketing is very powerful, until world famous Tiger Beer, Carlsberg, Heineken, Anchor, etc became secondary order.

This brew contain lesser alcohol (5% /vol) then the others (5.5% ~ 5.8%). It's suitable even for occasional drinkers.

In Laos, PEPSI is more famous than COCA-COLA COKE, which I don't really happy with, as I'm a true Coca-Cola supporter. Reason is, PEPSI got a factory in Vientiane and the price is definitely lower than Coca-Cola, which is imported from Thailand.

Along the promenade of Mekon River, there are a lot of riverside bars, which threat their customers with beer, sea-food, local delights, fruit juice.

While sitting at the riverside bar, I learnt that the Mekong River is the national border for Laos and Thailand. That mean a swim session will bring me to the neighbouring country? Well, sunset view of Mekong River is very relaxing and enjoyable. We sleep early today because the total of 22 hours bus journey make both of us exhausted like a cow.