Well, we finally left Thailand for Laos after spending another 3 days in Pai coz we got food poisioning- it wasn't pretty. We crossed into Laos at Huay Xai and headed for Luang Prabang. There were no scheduled buses or trains you could only get there by slow boat (2 days slow) or speed boat (6 hours of speed) down the Mekong River. We took the speed boat- its quite hard to explain so have a look at the pics but its not your standard Roman Abramovich type more like a 5m narrowboat with a 40HP engine. So kitted out with ear plugs and life jackets we ripped down the river and scary speeds dodging the occasional rock which were only just visable. The front two and the driver got helmets but the rest of us just had to pray that we didnt crash! We had the occasional stop to streach our legs and get some food- thank god because sitting with your knees in your armpits for too long isnt healthy. So all is well, and its starting to get a liitle dark but we know there isnt far to go until.... we run out of petrol!! So we are now floating down the Mekong in the dark with a driver who speaks Lao and a few bits of English!! A few boats go past and we all shout to get there attention but we don't get rescued. The driver manages to empty the last bit of fuel (about 200ml) into a water bottle and we make it to the river bank where he jumps onto another boat a steals their whole fuel tank!! Just as he is trying to turn over the engine 3 men come out shining thieir torches at us, so we are all praying that the bloody thing will start and eventually it does. So now we are heading down the river at scary speeds in the pitch dark all praying that this guy knows where the rocks are. After about 5 mins (thank god) we get to a jetty (made of bamboo and half under water) where we are told to get of and catch a tuk tuk- none of us argued and were quite happy to be on dry land! So we spent a few days in Luang Prabang not really doing much just enjoying doing exactly that (if that makes any sense!!)