Leaving Thailand behind for a while it's time to hit Laos. Being tourists and all we decide on taking the 2 day slow boat which many descibe as a highlight of their trip. Tickets booked we head for Chiang Kong to pick up the first boat the following morning. It was all pretty straightforward at the border crossing, easier than expected to be honest as nothing seems to go to plan in Thailand a we were about to find out.

Hours of loitering passed and we finally boarded the boat. It wasn't the most comfortable but hey, we opted for experience over comfort. the boat was very long and narrow with wooden benches either side, some with tables, some without. The boat actually travelled quite fast for a slow boat, passing some of the most beautiful scenery and on occasion a small cluster of wooden shacks with children playing by the side of the river. Departing at 11:30am we reached our port for the evening, a small village called Pak Ben. It was apparant quite quickly that we weren't in Thailand anymore. The village was very isolated and the local people extremely pushy and aggressive with no sense of personal space. they also seem to not understand the word NO! It really did not feel safe staying there but it was only for one night luckily.

Next morning, having no idea what time our boat is leaving we wake early to hammering on our room door, its a woman who works in our guesthouse. She sems very concerned our boat is leaving in less than 30 minutes and were still in bed!! Up, showered, packed, we make the boat with, well almost an hour to spare!! (no-one is ever in a hurry here and nothing EVER runs to time!)

The second leg of the journey dargs, the once beautiful scenary is now becomming somewhat repeatative and it's actually very windy and cold on the boat. Finally arrvivng in Luang Prabang the docking area is just as frantic and frenzied as the previous evening. Masses of locals vying for any kind of business, bars, restaurants, hostels and tuk tuks. Having prebooked a hostel we were sticking to our guns and headed there. The hostel iyself was nice however, we weren't given a key to the room door and it did not lock which didn't exactly put my mind at ease after the past 2 days encountering the locals. Laos really is a poor country, the people here have nothing, only tourism and to be honest it isn't all that cheap. That night, in traditional style all 3 of us head to the nightmarket, meeting some slighty crazy people along the way.

Next morning we head down to the river and take a tour to (yet another) waterfall!! It is beautiful, set in amongst the national park where there was also a bear rescue centre. Cute. After playing in the waterfall and posing for pitures with the bears (the wooden statues, not the real ones!) we headed back to town to watch the sun setting, turning the sky the most gorgeous shades of pink and red. The perfect way to end a not so perfect start to Laos...