We left Pai for the Laos border at 8pm as planned on a minibus. The journey took us back over the mountain roads towards Chiang Mai and was supposed to take 6 hours. After an hour and a half delay, and some failed attempts at proper sleep, we arrived at our overnight "accomodation" around 3:30am. We aren't particularly picky, but had it not been so late, and if it wasn't included in the price, there is no chance we would have chosen to stay in the hole we were provided. Amy wasn't too happy with the place, but I was just glad to see a bed.

We were woken at 7am the same morning, after 3 and a half hours sleep, and everyone was chucked into the back of a pick-up truck and taken for breakfast. Most of the people that had travelled with us had paid for the full bus/boat trip to Luang Prabang, but our plan was to stay on the border for a day and get the boat the next morning. After speaking to a few people, and seeing what little there was to do in the small border town, we decided to cough up the rest of the money and get the boat the same day.

After breakfast we were all taken to the border crossing, where we went through the usual passport control, before getting onto a small boat and making the 2-minute trip over the Mekong to Laos. Before we could leave the pier we had to buy a visa for $35 each, then pass through arrivals. It was quite stressful and hectic, but I quite enjoyed it in a way, as it's a far cry from passport control in a European airport.

Once everybody was through we were all taken to a small office a short distance down the river, where we had to hand over our passports for boat records, and we could buy (overpriced) supplies for the journey. With no official departure time, we ended up waiting there for around an hour, with some people worried that it might be a scam to steal our passports. Amy and I were a little calmer, and soon we were on our way down to the boat around noon.

The trip was scheduled to arrive in Luang Prabang in the evening of the 2nd day, with an overnight stop in a small village called Pak Beng. The boat was pretty full, but 90% of the passengers were travellers, so the atmosphere was a little lighter than it could have been. Amy and I kept our heads down as we were tired, and passed the time by reading, listening to music or sleeping, but plenty of people were drinking and playing card games. I guess we're just getting too old for that!

After about 6 hours we arrived in Pak Beng. Although a little cramped, the journey had not been too bad, with impressive scenery to take in all along the way. The village was small, but we got the impression it would have been almost non-existant had it not been for the daily boatfull of tourists. We checked into a guesthouse along with John (Irish), Shaz (English) and Rebecca (Canadian), who had been travelling alongside us since leaving Pai, then took the opportunity to freshen up. Our room was nothing special, but nice enough for the night, and we could see the river from our window. In the evening we went out for an Indian at one of the few restaurants, then got an early night.

The next day we were up at 7 for showers and breakfast, before getting back onto the boat about 8:30. We got a decent seat, but we had to wait about an hour before we set off, as a few stragglers turned up late. It was a different boat this time, which was much narrower and more crowded - Not really ideal for the 9 hours that lay ahead. Still, at least we'd had a full nights sleep this time.

We passed the time much in the same way as the day before, but we were in the middle of a big group of Irish people, so we were a bit more social this time. Amy was forced to swap her previous book for a Mills & Boone, with nothing else available, so she read that whilst I played poker with a group of lads from Northern Ireland. That certainly made the afternoon go quicker for me, and we arrived in Luang Prabang at about 6pm.

We found a reasonable guesthouse in a good location, then went out for a meal at a nice place alongside the river. Luang Prabang has a reputation for good food, but we found the place surprisingly expensive relative to Thailand: We paid about 6-8 pounds for 2 meals and drinks compared to 2-3 pounds in Thailand. Afterwards we took another early night.

In the morning we went for a wander around the town, and got choc-banana pancakes from a stall for breakfast. The old town is really small, and we found ourselves wondering what lonely planet had been raving about. It's a nice place, but they had it down as unmissable. We walked around a few of the temples, one of which was really nice, on top of a hill looking over the town. In the evening we went for another meal, anda quick look around the night market, before getting to bed, as we planned to move on the next day.

We woke up early the next day, but Amy was feeling ill, which we think was caused by food poisoning from the night before. She pretty much stayed iun bed all day whilst I went to get us breakfast. Amy couldn't really eat it, but that just meant more pancake for me! In the afternoon I went to the internet cafe whilst Amy had a nap, and I came out an hour later to find someone had stolen my flip flops from the front door! I walked home in bare feet to tell Amy the story and change in to my trainers. With Amy still not feeling well, I went out for a meal on my own, then we went to bed hoping to move on in the morning.

Amy felt better the next day, so we decided to risk the 6 hour journey to Vang Vieng. The minibus didn't leave until 1pm, so we had a chance to get lunch and pick up supplies, then we were on our way...