ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?

It's happened a couple times along the way, but today in Barnes & Noble my jaw dropped from absolute shock as I discovered that a border crossing I planned to make between northern Vietnam and northern Laos was actually closed to foreigners. The closest (and most northerly) border open was actually not close at all and would necessitate an extra couple days of travel.

Both the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides mentioned that there has been talk of opening this border to tourists, but nothing had been done yet. Both guides were also over two years old, so I thought I should double check on some traveler forums, and what do you know? The border opened to foreigners in May of 2007 and has remained open since.

(Orange is desired, green is next closest, image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

My main plans in northern Vietnam center around the Hmong peoples (among other minorities) and the town of Sa Pa near Lao Cai (click on the map for a larger view). To get down to the green border post, coming all the way back to Hanoi would have been necessary. This route goes in another direction towards Dien Bien Phu, saving time and avoiding backtracking. If I have ever learned anything about myself during travels, it is that I despise backtracking.

The even better part of it is that it also has visa services available at the border, so if obtaining my Laos visa is a problem in Hanoi, I can put it off for the border. A couple posts I read mentioned how one foreigner can hold up the entire bus for three hours at the border waiting for the visa guy though, so I will do my best to prepare ahead so as not to have a busload of locals angry at me.