We woke up earlier than we'd planned, but had breakfast downstairs and headed off in search of a pharmacy again. Edd's folks had been in contact with a doctor they'd been some 18 months earlier and he had advised us on where to go for an epipen. We arrived at the suggested pharmacy and after a google search of what it looked like, they told us they did not have any. They then Skyped with a pharmacy down the road who also did not have any. We resigned ourselves to getting one in Vietnam and went in search of spring rolls instead.

The spring roll search was unsuccessful and we ended up at an Italian restaurant ordering pizza. Half way through our meal, street children walked into the restaurant and straight up to our table; they literally begged for the food on our plates. It had happened int he French restaurant the day before, but the owner had sent them away. The Italian restaurant was not as confrontational and Edd and I were stuck in a moral dilemma. We knew we shouldn't assist the beggars (it even says so in the Lonely Planet book) but at the same time we understood the basic need for food, and here were children watching us consume it in a restaurant.

They hovered for a few moments and then left us as they realised we were not going to part with a pizza we were already sharing between the two of us. Other people were far more forgiving and gave them pieces of theirs, also ordering fruit drinks and mangoes at a local vendor. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

We paid for our meal and went back to the hostel for another afternoon nap. I read my newly downloaded e-book and Edd caught 40 winks for 2 hours. We discussed with the German girls that we'd have dinner with them at the 'Laos Restaurant,' original, that evening as it was their last one in Laos before heading down to Southern Thailand.

We had bought Tonic water at a mini mart and made G&T's in our room as an aperitif before dinner. We met them outside their guesthouse (the one with the rude staff) at 6.55pm and headed for the Laos Restaurant. They joked that the menu perfectly suited everyone: it had a wide variety of vegetarian options for us, but as a whole did not have an enormous selection of dishes which usually made Edd indecisive! We had a good laugh at how familiar we'd become with each other in the space of the 8 days of travelling together and sat down at a table, surrounded by yellow-painted walls.

We had a great meal and then headed off to a different restaurant for an after-dinner drink. We shared a pitcher of mojito and chatted until 11pm, realising the time we paid and left - none of us had packed and we all had an early start in the morning. We said good-bye to our new friends on the corner of our backpackers and promised to visit each other in our respective countries. We had made some great memories with them and looked forward to potentially seeing them again some time in the future.