Well, the flight wasn't so bad actually. It was a propellor plane though and when it set off up the runway it was SO loud! Thought I was going to be deaf by the end. We flew with Lao Airlines and it cost about £100. Got a little snack on board too - was a bit of a weird bun, tasted a bit like donut and had ham in it ...still ate it. Two seats on each side of the cabin and only had one toilet at the front...small. Got talking to a nice couple from Ireland as well who were doing some travelling.
We could have paid much less but travelled in a mini-bus for 24 hours trough winding dodgy mountain roads, from Hanoi. We read that the scenery was nice but it really wasn't worth the hassle.

So anyway we landed in the airport an got off the plane...could not believe the airport. We walked straight onto the tarmac which was basically like a car park and smaller than Morrisons at five lane ends. There's no big gates with walkways, it's just a very small building with a small car park that has a plane in it...

The airport is so small. We walked from the plane to the building into this tiny area to sort out visas etc. Got our Lao Visa which cost $36 each - we had enough money anyway. Walked through passport control which is just a little cubicle, then straight there is a tiny conveyor belt, and then you turn around and you are out of the airport!
Paid £4 for a taxi and then he picked some random guy up just outside the airport. Took him up the road a bit an he jumped out an wave ld goodbye while laughing - should have got some brass off him!

It was about a 10-15 minute drive from the airport to the main area of the town. And when we got there and was driving through, it looked really lovely with lots of little restaurants, bars, wine bars and shops. The buildings are small and quaint and some have really nice soft lighting dangling from the trees and things.

We pulled up just near a small restaurant on the river that was all outdoor and again had lots of fairly light type lights hanging from the trees - just looked so nice and relaxing. Had to walk up an alleyway and then got to our new home for the next 3 nights - Souk Lan Xang Guesthouse. The reception was just a a small wooden building and this young guy was just sat at the desk asleep - had to wake him up! We had to take our footwear off and then taken to our room up some wooden steps to the first floor. It's all outdoor if that makes sense, it's not some big building. They're a bit like wooden chalets or cabins. The place is absolutely lovely. Huge room and big bed with nice soft mattress and bedding, plus a nice bathroom with a big shower. It's all wood inside too like a wood cabin - wooden furniture and walls. It feels very outdoorsy. Very happy with it and only £20 a night!

We couldn't wait to get out so quickly started to get changed and freshen up to go out. Therese opened one of the pockets on her backpack though to find sun cream all over - the top had somehow come off. Wasn't too bad actually because it all stayed in the pocket and didn't seap through in to the main bag where all her clothes are.

We got sorted anyway and set off to check things out on Main Street. It's really dark here at night and very quiet. Just what we need after all the hectic places we've been to in the past couple of weeks. It's nice to be able to walk and not have hundreds of scooters etc flying at you and all the constant beeping. And there lots of nice building here with big trees draping down and lots of soft lighting - everything just looks so nice.

There's some really high end expensive restaurants here. Didn't expect that at all. And there are quite a lot of older french people here too in the expensive places. There's a few wine bars that literally just sell wine and they have big comfy couches with people sat out relaxing. There's loads of cheaper restaurants set in lovely surroundings and plenty of young people. So many places to choose from to eat but had to check the prices as they really vary.
There's loads of tour companies too to book the many different trips and buses to different towns. We checked a few out to get an idea on how much it would cost us to get to Vang Vieng which is a 6 hour bus trip away - only about 120,000 Kip (£15).

We found a nice little restaurant called Khmu. As we walked in, the Irish couple we met on the plane were in there too - weird out of all the restaurants. We shared sweet and sour chicken, and chicken Khmu rice which is just rice with lemongrass (I think), chillies, some different veg chopped up into little pieces and all fried together. Had a big bottle of beer to share as well and it only cost about 65,000 Kip (£5). Was a nice cheap meal.

We resisted the bars and had a short stroll around and picked up a lemon tart on the way home! We're supposed to be cutting down on the sweet stuff but it was 50% off, haha. It was bloody lovely anyway!

We absolutely love Laos already. It's just so nice - the scenery, the peacefulness, the people, everything. It's our favourite place so far and we've only been here an evening! You don't get harassed by sellers or tuk-tuk guys either. Or Jumbos as they are called over here - funky little colourful bikes with a seating area at the back (wait for the pictures!).

In bed for 11pm tonight because we want to be up early to go see some sights and we can't wait to see this place during the day!