Today we headed to Laos, the fourth country of our trip. We made sure to stock up on provisions for the 20hr bus journey as we've heard a few horror stories. Some include no stops, no toilet on the bus and trouble at the border crossing. So safe to say we were really looking forward to it!

On our last afternoon in Vietnam we spotted some whole BBQ'd dogs on the side of the road, from teeth to tail. Definitely not the hot dogs we are used to seeing back home. Before we left, Perfume and her family gave us a goodbye present - Vietnamese coffee and a coffee filter. We were unsure as to why we were given a present, perhaps it was due to us buying Perfume some flowers to say thank you for looking after us in Hanoi. Either way it was a lovely gesture.

We waited for our bus to pick us up at 5pm. At 5.45pm a man on a motorbike pulls up and shouts 'Laos'. We assume this is for us so we follow him. Easier said than done when he flies off ahead and we are left to chase him on foot carrying all of our stuff. He then tells us to wait on a corner with a few other travellers from Korea and Japan. A small bus picks us up and we just about manage to squeeze on. Again, not being told what's happening we assume (and pray) that this isn't the bus that is taking us the whole way. An hour and a half later we arrive at the bus station. After more confusion we are escorted to our sleeper bus - a bright orange bus with blue and red neon lights in the window. We were assured it was going to Vientiane in Laos.

First things first, you have to take your shoes off when getting on the bus and put them in a carrier bag. The bus consists of about 20 bunk bed style beds/seats. They are more like reclining seats than beds, as they don't go completely horizontal. We both had top bunks. Max soon found out that the beds were catered more for the Vietnamese frame - he was way too long for them! After waiting on the bus for nearly an hour we finally set off.

After about 10hrs into the journey and not much sleep we arrived at a cold, wet and foggy border crossing. Each time we stop, they decide to get everyone up by playing incredibly heavy techno music at top volume - just what you want. Off the bus, again more confusion. We were told to queue in one line and then moved over to a different line and then moved back to the same line that we were first in. We realised that this was a way of letting all the Vietnamese people get through first. Over the other side we got our Laos visas granted pretty easily and then it was back on the bus for another 12hrs.

We arrived in Vientiane 22hrs later. We jumped on the back of a truck with other people from our bus to the city centre. After wandering around for a while trying to get our bearings we finally found our guesthouse and checked in. After some food and sampling another new beer, Beer Lao, we decided to head back to our hotel for some much needed sleep.

Max and Steph x