There is absolutely nothing here... just some guest houses for everyone on the slow boat up or down the Mekong, going to Luang Prabang or Huhay Xai respectively.

We had about 8 hours to kill on the boat... all wooden bench seats... composed of 2 wooden planks of 2 by 4! "Comfortable" was not a word commonly used! There was an area at the back of the boat which Skinny, Ivan and I used as base camp... we removed the seats and sat on the floor! Much easier!

So with 8 hours what was there to do... make friends... and I loved it! Of course the only reason anyone spoke back was because they had no choice! They'll probably look back at this and think, actually sitting in silence ignoring him would have been the lesser of the two evils!

In all fairness, the boat ride wasn't bad at all. And the surroundings were simply magnificent. The Mekong is very low at the moment as we approach the rainy season, so we were surrounded by towering sand/silt banks on either side. Every so often we would hear the familiar sound of a speedboat. I use the word speedboat in the loosest possible sense! A tiny "hairdrier" engine, revved into the red, mounted on the back of a kayak! Oh yes... Dan Trench would be proud!

With another 8 hour journey tomorrow, I made my first purchase in Laos. Its called Laos Laos. A clear, local alcoholic beverage fermented from rice! Apparently it gives you a hangover before you even finish your first shot!

So we'll all have fun on the boat to Luang Prabang tomorrow!