Vientiane - 7th/8th November

Pretty decent minibus trip of about three and a half hours to get down here and everything was pretty much on time for a change.

Was a bit of a bunfight finding a room (didn't book in advance which was a mistake) and we had to charge around in the hottest part of the day with the rest of the people from our bus, looking at the same places. Was pretty close to killing someone at one point if I'm honest. Standard was pretty crap for a so called capital city so we buckled under the heat and stayed in a hotel (only $12 a night anyway).

Couldn't believe how quiet the city was and there was very little to do in the way of sights so we opted to stay for 1 night only and to take an overnight bus south the next day to Si Phan Don (the 4 thousand islands).

After a tip off from fellow travellers, Sarah spent the next day by the pool of a plush hotel sunning herself while I opted to go for a walk round the local market and hunt out some bargains. Managed to bag a couple of pairs of shorts and another fridge magnet (yes Sarah S, we're still on your tail) after some expert haggling.

The bus down south that night turned out to have beds which we hadn't expected and we got shoved on the very back seat so had to share a '4 bed' with another couple. A bit weird at first, but they were really nice and the driver switched all the electricity off after half an hour so had no choice but to try and sleep.

Easier said than done on the very bumpy roads and the fact we were effectively lying on top of the engine made it pretty noisy. Managed to get a few hours, but Sarah was awake all night - oh dear.

Pulled into Pakse at 6.30am and headed for the bus station to then get a minibus further south to the islands. Journey wasn't too bad once we got going, though was rammed full of locals and one girl was using her mobile as a speaker - thought we were back in Brixton for a few minutes. Every time the bus stopped, locals opened the windows and shoved through a variety of cooked crickets, fish and fruit to sell. Pretty hectic, but didn't partake surprisingly.

Crossed the Mekong on the bus on the smallest car ferry ever and we'd finally made it to Don Khong, the biggest of the Si Phan Don islands.