Another early start today as Christina had to leave me today L and get a flight home to the UK. We were going to use the same airport transfer service that we used yesterday but when we got there we were immediately approached by a taxi driver offering to take us there. He started with a really high price and we knew exactly how much it would be on the bus, so we started bartering with him. This got really annoying as he just wouldn't give up especially as we were quite happy to wait and get the bus. Finally we agreed on the same price as two bus tickets and got to leave immediately instead of having to wait for the bus and then sit on it as it travelled around town picking people up. I think we did well getting the taxi driver so low but then they were all desperate for the money as there were not many tourists around the city.

The taxi driver’s car was a bit of a rust bucket as the boot didn’t lock shut as the catch was broken and every time we went over a bump the shock absorbers banged, but I’ll give him this, he got us there alive and in one piece!

Christina checked her bag in and we went off for some lunch. When it came to saying good bye I was very sad to say goodbye knowing that we wouldn’t see each other for such a long time and Christina was very upset too so we said our goodbye’s very quickly at the entrance to the departures gate and went our separate ways. Waiting for the bus back to Koh Sarn Road, I put on my ipod to listen to some music and the first song that come on when I picked random was "our song" and it brought tears to my eyes and then the proceeding couple of songs did the same. It was weird which songs came on while being on random.

Back at the hotel it was time to get something sorted as I was now on my own and had no current plans to go anywhere or do anything and I had kind of got used to everything being done for me while I was on the two organised trips through China and Thailand. I got out my iPhone and left my decision to fate, i run the dice app and asked “should I go to Laos” and gave it a roll. It came back as a “YES” so off I went to the travel desk at the hotel (if it was a NO then I would have gone to Cambodia first.

I discussed with the lady at the travel desk about my plans and first before I could go to Laos I had to get a visa sorted out for Vietnam as this cannot be done at the border, whereas Laos and Cambodia can. My best option was the next day visa service they offered so I give my passport away to get Vietnam Visa issued and as it was too late to go today I booked the bus to Laos for the evening of 1st June.

Now having made some plans for my next stage of my journey, I decided to investigate some hostels in Laos that I could stay in for a couple of days, just so that I had somewhere to go when I got there and it was one less thing to worry about. I searched the usual hostel sites and directly with some hostel websites. The one that caught my attention was a tree house, type hostel called “SpicyLaos” so I read a few reviews, joined their Facebook page and left a message asking if they had a bed for me for 2 nights. 2 hours later, they replied to my post on Facebook and I was all booked in. That was a great idea to use Facebook for bookings.