March 7th (Saturday) - Day 7 (Part 2) - Huoy Xai
Crossing the river to Lao was great fun! The river was over 200 meters wide. The problem was I jumped off the boat on the other side and my bag broke. The right shoulder strap buckle gave way. Not even 7 days old...It fell to the floor and almost went in the river. We walked up towards Huoy Xai. We had to buy a visa to get in the country which with a broken sandy bag is stressful, but as soon as we cleared we could feel the calm of the country compared to Thailand. Lao is famous for being a laid back country. We checked in to our hotel (rustic cabin) and then headed into town for a beer. We tried to go into a bar over looking the river but it was a building site. Literally 100 workers were building this place. We went to a sleepy road side bar instead. For dinner we had a bbq style meal. You get a pan over a fire to make soup in and cook the meat. After dinner we went back to the hotel and Jess, Tom and I had a few whiskeys on the porch.