6.30am came too soon and we got up weary eyed and grouchy. We got ready (didn't shower as the bathroom was a bit gross) and went to the garage-turned restaurant for breakfast. We'd all slept really well, but could do with another 3 hours or so.

We had banana pancakes (more like massive crumpets) and Edd had a sandwich. We made our way down do the pier and bought snacks on the way. We were told the boat was leaving at 8am so were there at 7.45am to get good seats. 8am came and went and by 8.30am we asked what time we were leaving and the guy in charge said 9am. We enquired as to why and were ignored. Edd then got up and confronted him so he couldn't be ignored and asked why we were told 9am if it was leaving an hour later. A French woman with 2 children on her own said she'd been told 9.30am; her husband and eldest son were still on their way… She jumped off at 8.50am and the man in charge told her: 10 minutes; she'd left her other 2 children on board, alone, and we discussed what we'd do if they tried to leave without her. She got back in the nick of time and we left at 9.05am. I decided Asians clearly had clocks manufactured by the same company Africans got their clocks from.

We watched as Thai men carried motorbikes and mopeds down the steep stairs to the showboat - they were eventually fastened to the front of the boat, blocking the front door so the only way to get in and out was through a side window. A little puppy ran around the pontoon and clambered on and off the boat until the 'captain' shouted at him and he ran off. Village children were running around, being fed bananas and naatjies (tangerines) by the tourists. It was all a bit mad to watch.

We set off at 9.05am and prepared for another 7 hours of boredom. I blogged on Mircrosoft Word and then carried on reading my book. (It's the one written by Monica Lewinsky, inspired by the Ted Talks episode: 'The price of shame' both really good, I'd recommend a read and a watch). Edd and one of the German girls played Rummy, while the other German girl read her Kindle. We wanted to play trains, but were on a different boat that was much narrower, so there was literally no space. We had our lunch a bit later (I had ordered spring rolls that to my dismay, had gone soggy) and had G&T's which then finished the bottle we'd bought in Chiang Mai. At least this bottle got finished: we'd decanted the previous bottle into a water bottle and taken the label off it so we'd know it was Gin and not water on the Lakehouse boat. Edd forgot it was Gin and poured the 'water' in the Lake.

We arrived at Luang Prabang at 3.35pm and all climbed off. A slowboat next to us had 3 goats, a chicken tied to a paint pot and what looked like a dead cow strapped to the front. It was lying on its side, not moving, and everyone on our boat became deeply distressed. We then realised it's ears were moving and it was indeed alive. It was inhumane to say the least. I considered the rights of people in South East Asia as a whole and realised that animals had no chance. We'd seen so many animals tied up and treated in a way that would be deemed 'cruel' in western society. Edd kept reminding me that I couldn't save them all and I needed to let it go.

They'd changed the area the boats went to the year before, so we were still 10km's away from the city centre. Edd stood in a queue and got us all took took tickets. The took took journey was also a bit mad and we were surprised and elated to be in one piece when we got off. One of the German girls had a Lonely Planet book and had found accommodation in it she wanted to check out. We walked in the general direction of where we thought we should be going and were harassed by Laos people trying to get us to go to their guesthouses. The one in the book was full, as well as the next one we looked at. Laos people continued to harass us in the street, lying to us constantly about where places that we were looking for, were situation. They'd also say that places were closed, dirty, had no inside bathrooms, no electricity, no wifi, blah blah blah, thinking we'd believe them and go to their guesthouse. One of the German girls and I were of the same opinion: we will not go to their guesthouse on principal.

We found a really nice place that was 120 000kip but they only had one room; we left the German girls there as we had a smaller budget for accommodation anyway, and went in search of somewhere cheaper.

We walked down a side street and found a place that was 80 000kip a night. We checked the room out and it was perfect; Edd managed to get them down to 75 000kip a night, as we were staying for 3 nights and he argued that they wouldn't have to clean our room for 3 days, which meant less work. The mother agreed; Edd is a legend.

We showered and got ready for dinner, meeting the German girls back at their accommodation. We went to the Coconut Garden for dinner and I had delicious pumpkin in coconut milk soup; Edd had stir-fried beef and we shared a sticky rice.

We walked around the night market and I wanted to buy every scarf on display. We found a shop that sold Edd's sandals and he was mortified. We would never, in a million years, have thought we'd find a place that sold them in Laos. He tried on a few pairs, but we decided the ones we'd bought in Chaing Mai were sufficient and didn't buy anything. We'd managed to lose the German girls by accident, but figured we'd bump into them somewhere in the market.

We bought 3 gorgeous paintings from an artist - for our house one day - at an absolutely ridiculous price in pounds! I did the bargaining for this purchase as I felt quite strongly about bartering with someone who was selling art. (It's quite annoying when you put so much time into your work and people want it, but don't want to pay for it). We accepted his discount for buying 3 and walked away quite pleased with ourselves, discussing what kind of frame would suit them.

We decided to go back to our room as we hadn't bumped into the German girls again and were tired of seeing the same things at different stalls.

They had met up with another German couple, who were apparently on the slow boat with us, and were having drinks at a local café. We joined them for a chat, but then decided it was time for bed and said good night. We made our way back to our guesthouse and collapsed into bed. We were looking forward to the lazy morning we were going to have the next day.