We woke up early and had breakfast at the GH in Nang Khong. From there we-got a ride on the back of a pick-up truck, walked to the river, got stamped out of Thailand, got a longtail boat across the Mekong, walked up the hill, queued to get our Laos visas, queued to get stamped in to Laos, waited, got our passports checked again, walked further up the hill, signed up for the slow boat, got on a songthawe (a jeep converted into a kind of minibus) to the far end of town and herded into a cafe. At this cafe we were spoken to by a 'travel rep' (read-conman) who told us tales of muggings and piracy on the slow boat and that where we were to spend the night-Pakbeng-wasa horrible place. There were around 100 people in that cafe that were meant to get on the slow boat. Of those only about 30 actually did. The rest believed the 'rep' and were scared into paying an extra 20pounds to get a minibus to Luang Prabang instead. I got on the boat.

It was a good decision. I instantly made friends and we just lay back in the sun, drank beer and watched the world go by. Brilliant. The boat took 9hrs to get to Pakbeng. We found a really cheap GH that charged us 3pounds for a twin room, so 1.50 each for the night. Pakbeng was a cool, wee mountainside town that wasnt too touristy and not at all unsafe like we'd been told.

The following day the boat was a bit more cramped but still a lot of fun. At one point a guy jumped up, grabbed his bag and jumped overboard and swam to shore. I've since found out that he seems to have mental problems cos he left his main bag with his passport and money in the custody of a guy he'd known for about an hour. A little later a Laos family with a gravely ill baby got on board, IV drip and all. It was a bit disconcerting but the baby was apparently going to be OK and most people on the boat donated money to the family. All in all the slow boat was great. A really good way of seeing real Laos people going about their day-to-day lives on the river.

Luang Prabang was where i got off the boat. Its a picturesque town, sat on the meeting point of two rivers, with a temple overlooking the whole town. We spent a day at the nearby waterfalls, swimming in the green pools and jumping off the waterfalls. There was a very impresseive main set of falls that were a couple of hundred feet high. We walked to the top and you could stand in the river and look over the edge, it was incredible. Also in Luang Prabang the only place you can drink after 11pm is at a bowling alley. So there we went and had a very strange night playing drunken bowling with the locals.

Next was Vang Vieng and the infamous tubing. You rent a rubber ring or tube and spend the day tubing down the river, surrounded by massive limestone cliffs. Of course the place is over-run with backpackers and the river is lined with bars who throw out ropes to pull you in for cheap beer, cheaper whiskey and buckets of booze that can be spiked by whatever you want. There's also a selection of diiferent swings, slides and diving boards to throw yourself off into the river.It was a great day-sitting in the sun, drinking beer, in good company until i got really, really drunk and had to be babysat for the remainder of the day!

The trip back to Bangkok was a painful one and i shant bore you with the details and to be honest, i'm not ready to re-live it yet! But i made it safely and back to my home from home Niras GH, for some well deserved rest.