So on the sleeper a 10pm stop for food (if you can all it that we were just glad that it didn't mess with our bowels) a dodgy fried rice and some average looking noodles, purchased some sweet bread rolls to eat later with cheese and climbed back onto the bus and sunk some valium sleeping pills, these helped us see our way through in pretty good sleeping form until the Vietnam/Laos borders.

Shuttled off the bus with little direction in a mist of fog we were barely able to see our foot in front let alone the buidings, Vietnam exit process wasn't too bad although we had to pay $1 for no reason, but hey you wanna get to Laos you just forefit. Then we were made to walk 800m down a dirty road to the Laos border patrol and fill out documnets - all ok until we were made to pay at a price higher than expected - you wouldn't believe it but between us three we had just enough Dong to pay for our visa's - without an ATM in sight we would have been in trouble - one guy from Canada had to borrow money from an israeli women and gave his details - very trusting!!! Stamp, stamp stamp, boom, boom boom, Hello, Laos!!!

The down side to this is that we still had 8 hours to travel, no money no food just some peanut m&m's to keep us alive until 5pm - we looked like ethiopians on arrival but we made it, found some accom and showered (same undies for 36 hours not that comfortable) and found some beer lao and some food - ok so a lot of food including our very first overseas anti pasto platter - not as good as gfy's but pretty yummy!

Day 2 in Vientaine saw us lie in until 10am and then devised our own tour via Tuk tuk ($80,000kip) to bus station and three main sites in Vientaine - Pha That Luang (big golden natinal monument which may or may not hold the breatbone of the buddah from 3rd century BC in its stuppa - we couldn't sdee it hehehe), Patuaxi n(similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, pretty cool, climbed up inside it, offers views of Vientaine) and finally the Wat Si Saket (oldest temple in Vientaine, cool buddahs, only temple to survive the wars here and still appears in its old form which is cute).

Booked on a sitting up bus with air con to Luang Prabang tonight for 95,000 kip leaves at 7:30pm due to arrive at 6am fingers crossed the old sleeping pills work a treat as no sleeping buses to Northern Laos dang it, back to the old upright position with mouth wide open and a few snorts from Britt!