We took the 3 day slow boat from Northern Thailand to Laos in the hope that it would be a relaxing and peaceful journey from which we could take in the scenery. Instead we were met with a really quite sub-standard boat, into which they crammed about double the max capacity of people. Interestingly, they saw it fill any free space there was in the isle with uncomfortable plastic chairs, so not only was your seating painful, you were pretty much trapped in there for the entire journey. On the plus side, we did get to meet lots of people on the boat (including 2 of the Irish girls we met on the trekk and a guy called Martin) - most of whom seem to be doing exactly the same journey through Laos. So at least the social side of things is all ok.

On the first day of the journey we got there late, so were left with the most uncomfortable seats. We decided the best option was to go to the luggage hold, which was right by the noisy engine, and lay against the bags. It was MUCH more comfortable. In order to keep ourselves entertained, numerous games of cards were played. In order to amuse ourselves further, dares were put into play for the loser. Unfortunately for Donna she seemed to be on a losing streak and ended up having to take on all the dares. These included climbing to the top of the bag pile and burying herself in amongst them, hopping down the (very small) isle to the front of the boat, then back again on the other foot, and putting on a tin bowl (that we found) as a hat and asking someone a random question. Sadly this last attempt of a dare was thwarted by the little thai slave boy they had on board, who saw dare as an attempt to steal boat property, so took it off us! Annoying!

After many a game of cards, finishing off my book and getting bored of my ipod tunes, we finally arrived!