Thanks for this post. I will be referring back to this after I visit Laos, then Cambodia. Think I'm going to enter Vietnam in the south. Today I'm figuring out how to take a two day slow boat from Pai, Thailand to Laos. I thought it would be a no brained, but after reading horror stories online I decided to take another day and plan ahead a bit better. I'll be checking out more of your posts.
RE: Best places in the north of Vietnam