hello from laos. well we just endured the longest bus journey ever to reach the border, a journet of about 60km that should have taken about 1/2 hours ended up at a bottom aching 5.... Anyway, we decided to try and make the border crossing before it closed at 5pm, so with seconds to spare (and a few extra baht paid) we made it into laos. After passing through passport control (someone's lounge) we ventured passed the duty free shops (someone's kitchen...) and crossed the mekong river in a tiny longboat. My backpack was getting really heavy by this time (even without straighteners...) so we got the nearest guesthouse we could find. A basic place but at 200b a night for the room who could complain? The town was literally one road, with a few guest houses, and a couple of restaurants. A lot of chickens however, which may have been dinner? We had a few beers with the people we would be travelling with the next morning, and had a fairly early night. The following morning we boarded our longboat, with about 100 others for the journey down the Mekong river. The boat was pretty cramped, but was quite an enjoyable experience made so by the endless supply of beer lao. It turned into quite a good trip with lots of chatting and sights to see. My personal highlight was listening to the rules of cricket, as Chris tried to teach the Germans what it was all about, (i may have learnt a little too in time for Melbourne...). We arrived in out stop-off village; Pakbeng at around 6.00pm.......