Day 230- Finding breakfast proved quite difficult as everywhere was so expensive but we managed to find a decent deal at a hotel. We needed a hit of culture so walked around the city and found a small temple which was nice and spent some time admiring the many buddha sculptures and enjoying the peace and quiet. Back on the busy streets we continued our walk and then pulled up at a cafe for a nice cold fruit shake- we need our five a day after all! Then we walked along to the National Museum and spent an hour in there. It was very basic and quite small with some information of prehistory, then tribal history and culture. The second floor was dedicated to war with a lot of focus on the French colonial wars and Laos independence and then also the 'Secret War' with USA. This was the war fought by the Laos communists or 'Pathet Lao' and North Vietnamese against the US and Laos royal family and associated armies. Then back on the ground floor there was some info on current affairs and international relations. On the way back to the hostel we picked up our passports and Vietnam visas and then had stopped for food. Our bus transfer was picking us up at 6 and we still needed to buy Ann's tapestries from the market. The stall was meant to open at 5 but at 5.30 we were still waiting for her. We went for a walk and it was 5:50 by the time we spotted her setting up shop, we hurried over and negotiated a good price for them before running back. Typically it was late and rocked up at half past. The tuk-tuk was packed and it took us to the station where we waited for a while before we could board or sleeper bus to Phonsovan. It was an usual bus with what appeared to be one large single bed, whereas in actual fact they tried to squeeze two people in. It was ok for us and if you were travelling with friends but pretty awkward if you were stuck next to a stranger! We stopped at the same noodle shop as the one we stopped at on the way to Vientiane as we were back-tracking, although this time it was at 1am and the soup was included in the ticket. Eve was fast asleep and passed on the offer, I took it up willingly.