Awaking a little worse for wear, we felt that we didn't have the resolve to take on the whopping 40 hour bus journey into Laos. However, due to Tet, there were no means of checking availability on other available modes of transport, so we decided to cut our losses and make the hour long journey across town to the airport in the hope that we would be able to secure a flight. After being sent to a few different counters, we were approached by this random lady who told us that there was a flight leaving later that day and had plenty of seats available, and if we wanted tickets we should find her in the airport in a few hours.

With no other option, we decided to hang around in the hope that she was a genuine employee of the airline. A long afternoon spent in the cafe of a very dingy airport later, we headed back up towards the check-in area, where the lady began cat-callingus from the other side of the airport. We anxiously pottered over and were relieved when we saw othertravellers checking in their bags at the same point. the only thing we thought was a little odd, was the fact that the cash she took from us (the only way of paying) went directlyinto her purse!!

we reached the runway sometime later only to realise that we would be going over the border in a tiny propeller plane. Nat, having a fear of flying was a little emotional, and her fears were not allayed when we saw the captain walk past us to the other end of the plane and take a seat down at the back, where he seemed to remain for the rest of the flight!

touching down in laos 2 hours later, we were delighted with the temperate weather which greeted us after the freezing temperatures in Hanoi. It was then that the problems started....

We entered the tiny airport terminal building, which consisted of one wooden hut, with one room, one baggage carousel etc etc. having been informed that we would need to purchase our visas at the border, we joined the lengthy queue and hoped that they would accept either credit card or Us dollars, as Laos kip are not available outside of the country. Monoploising on this problem, they charged an extortionate rate when converted into US dollars, and so we were reluctant to pay it along with Kim and Paul, an Australian couple we had got chatting to on the plane and also and American guy. However, when we enquired if there was a cash machine around, expecting there to be one, given that it was an airport, we were told that there was only one atm in the whole area. As a result of this, they instructed us to wait and then they would take us to the ATM machine themselves. A little scared we didn't have much of an option but to accept, so around half an hour later, we were all boarded onto the back of an open air truck and driven from the airport, by the same guy who had checked us in, to his friend's currency exchange place, which coincidentally was the only one open.

After being told that the ATM was broken, we didn't have m,uch of an option but to convert more money to pay for our visa. It was then we realised he had charged us an extortionate amount of commission and that we were now down around 20 pounds each. this aggravated paul and a heated argument ensued, which only died down when Paul mentioned that we should take the matter to the police station.

With the exchange promptly closing its shutters and shutting up shop at the mention of the police, we decided to follow suit and begin to walk off, having decided that we would not pay the extra tariff for the ride to the ATM which they were trying to charge. They shouted after us, until we turned off themain road out of sight and began to search for accommodation for the night, with the 11pm curfew fast approaching.

After searching literally all of the hostels in Luang Prubang (its a tiny town) to find that they were all full, we booked into a slightly more expensive hotel and put off the search until the next morning in the hope that people would have moved on!