Day 221- When we were at the market with the cookery school we spotted a woman dishing at huge bowls of yoghurt, fruit and muesli so we popped there for breakfast. We were recommended to try the coffee banana shake as well- safe to say we won't be getting it again. We were picked up on standard Thai-time and it was a further hour of driving around Chiang Mai in a full bus stopping at random guesthouse's before we finally got going! We were chatting away to a girl from Wales sitting next to us for a the first few hours, as we were driven to the border for the slow boat to Luang Prabang in Laos. On the way we drove through the town of Chiang Rai and stopped at the Wat Rong Khun temple. It was magnificent, like something from a fairy tale. It was completely white, covered in small shards of mirror which reflected the sun and was surrounded by a small moat. We crossed the bridge and entered the temple, we were then confronted by the most unusual paintings inside. They were extremely modern and abstract with one section full of superheroes and aliens. Slightly out of character to say the least. Back in the bus we trundled on through farmland until we arrived at the small town of Mae Son. We checked into the hotel which was included and then sat in the courtyard reading up on where we wanted to visit in Laos. After settling a route we went for a little walk around town and came down to the river, we had our first sight of the mighty Mekong river which we would be sailing down tomorrow. Dinner was also included and was a delicious buffet of chicken curry, pumpkin curry, mixed vegetables, fried noodles and rice. Everyone in the group who was on the same boat sat around two tables and we were sitting opposite three girls. Eve had a feeling she knew one of them and after a few questions we discovered it was a girl called Elizabeth Lee. Once she heard the name she knew exactly who it was, It turns out she is a good friend of James Bowe- also a good friend of Eve. We sat chatting and then a film was put on- Contraband. It was a nice evening to finish off a dull day of driving.

Day 222- Breakfast was again included and afterwards everyone received their passports back with their Laos visas in them. Me and Eve were the only ones who didn't pay for the visa as they were charging a $10 commission which we didn't feel we should pay considering you have to cross the border anyway and we can just get it at border control. So we all jumped in the minibus and were driven down to the river where we had to queue to get our stamp out of the country and then board the boat to cross the river into Laos. We were then all told to dump our bags at a small restaurant where all our group was waiting while me and Eve bought our visas. The whole group followed us as they had to get their visa stamped however we had to queue to buy our visa. We waited for more than an hour and we hoped that everyone would still be waiting for us. After finally getting the visa we got it stamped and ran back to the restaurant. We couldn't believe it, only our bags were there and everyone had gone. We walked up the street but there was no sign of them. We asked a few travel agents but no-one seemed to know our company or point us in the right direction. Eve was starting to worry and we didn't know what to do, we went back down to the restaurant to see if our guide was there. He wasn't. None of the staff knew anything and we didn't know what to do. We were stuck in this tiny town and we pretty much admitted the fact we would have to buy new tickets for the rest of the journey. I refused to let this happen and left Eve with the bags, frantically running around the town asking everyone. The boat was due to leave in half an hour and we still had to get to the jetty out of town. I was asking every travel agent when finally a lad seemed to understand me and recognise the sticker on my t-shirt showing which company we were with. He made a phone call and then asked if there was two of us, after a few questions he said someone was going to pick us up. Relief! I ran back down to Eve was now pretty much in tears and we took our bags up the bank to the travel agency. Here we waited for 20 minutes and were convinced the boat had left us. After asking the man who helped us he said only one boat a day left and we were talking to a group of lads who were on the same boat. It was now 11- the time we thought the boat was due to depart. We assumed Laos time was even worse than Thai time. We were then dropped off at the jetty and we seen everyone from our group, we were fuming because we couldn't believe that none of them spoke up about us being missing. It turned out they did and the guide said he was going back for us. Either way it was quite a stressful experience and it turned out the boat was due to leave at 11:30. It finally departed just before 12 and after a few attempts we managed to get some good seats. It was beautiful, we were slowly cruising down the Mekong and all along the way the scenery was beautiful with mountains and karst's lining the river and locals fishing in their traditional way. It took around 6 hours to reach our stop for the night- Pak Beng. It was a tiny village resting on the hillside of the river and we checked into our hotel and were about to go to a little Indian restaurant we spotted but it started to rain. We instead opted to stay in the hotel and it turned out the whole group thought likewise. It was nice all sitting together, about 14 of us in total and we chatted away until midnight.

Day 223- We woke up early so we could venture into the village for breakfast and have it down by the river. We then walked back to the hotel where they took us and our bags to the boat. It was late leaving again but we were in no hurry, it was so nice to sit back and watch the river villagers go about their daily life. We snoozed here and there and read our books to pass the time by. It took a further 7 hours to get to Luang Prabang and here were shocked to find that they no longer drop you off at the pier in the centre of town but 6km away instead. It was purely a money-making scheme as you now had to get a tuk-tuk into town and you had to buy a special ticket for 20,000 Kip. This was good as it meant no-one was overcharged but it was already way to expensive for a small journey. We got a tuk-tuk with Elizabeth and her two friends Beth and Sarah and we were all dropped off at the central market. From here we found a guesthouse and a lovely one at that for a great price- thanks to a bit of haggling. After a shower we agreed to meet up with the three girls and walk to the market for some food. We found a lane where all the street stalls had a cart full of plates of salads, rices and noodles which you could fill your plate up for a set price, it was a bargain. Eve and I also shared some barbecued belly pork and were stuffed by the end. We strolled through the market and then bumped into the rest of the group so we went for a drink at a bar- Lau Lau garden. It was a small bar with a huge garden area behind it full of seats, the drinks were really cheap so we had a couple there. Then at 11pm the staff came round and shouted last orders as in Laos there is a curfew at 12pm at which point everyone has to be indoors- especially locals (they are quite lenient on tourists), so the bars close at 11:30 giving them time to get home.