So this morning I get woken up at 7am by our Thai guide, knocking on each door and shouting 'morning, get up get up'. I'd slept pretty well considering I was expecting at any moment during the night to wake up with a gecko next to me. We had half an hour to get ready, then all bags were bundled in to the back of a truck and we were all bundled on top of them. There was 10 of us delicately balanced on the back of a pick up truck and taken off to the port for the slow boat to Laos. We stopped on route for breakfast which was all included in the price of the travel to Laos. Cold scrambled egg and toast (pre-prepared) was waiting for us. I was so hungry I ate it all.

Once at the port we went through immigration, first through Thai immigration to be stamped out of the country and then on to a bus over the 'friendship bridge' and in to Laos immigration. This is where we filled out our landing cards and visa forms. All were handed in to immigration and we had to wait to be called. I managed to put the wrong place of birth on my forms, for some reason I had in my head today I was born in Guildford, knowing full well it was Haslemere. Oh well, they didn't pick up on my mistake!! With a visa stuck in to my passport 35$ paid I went through customs. Then back on to a bus and to the port.

On arrival at the port my heart sunk, it wasn't a nice comfy boat I would be spending the next 7 hours on travelling down the Mekong River, but a long boat with uncomfortable seats and very little room for the 40 passengers also travelling down the river. Our bags were thrown (literally) in to the back of the boat, one big pile of rucksacks and we found the most comfy seat we could. I sat with two guys from Cornwall, Kia and Will. Between us we managed to sleep on and off and take in the scenery surrounding the Mekong. The boat was really noisy and the thought of doing it all over again tomorrow for the same amount of time is not a pleasant one.

We eventually arrived in a very small village called Pagbeng, Laos at about 5:30pm with no accommodation booked I stuck with Will and Kai and a couple of English guys they had hooked up with and we went on hunt for accommodation. We found a guest room for 3 people for 400baht (£6) for the room. So I am sharing a room with Kai and a German girl named Katarina who I actually met on the train station when I was getting the night bus to Chiang Mai and Kai. It's such a small world when you are travelling. Will and the 2 other guys are next door.

We all went out for dinner tonight to a Laos restaurant and consumed the Laos lager. I can't believe I am actually drinking big bottles of the stuff!! Before going out for dinner and just after moving in to our guest house the whole village had a powercut for about 2 hours. Everyone was walking around with torches, it seemed as if it is a pretty normal thing to happen and did not stop normal life although it was pitch black. As I said Pagbeng is a ting village next to the Mekong River, it is surrounded by woodland and mountains so with no electricity in the whole village it is a very very dark place. We are all back in our rooms by 10:30 tonight as an early start tomorrow to be back on the boat to get to Luang Prabang by sunset.