Well, we managed to pull ourselves from our hammocks in order to leave the island and head into mainland Laos. We are now in Savannakhet having travelled up via Champasak and Pakse. The journey was by local style bus and a bit of a magical mystery tour. You had to change buses for different locations along the way and passengers were literally sold on to differenrt companies as you went. The longest journey was from Pakse to Savannakhet, about 6 hours. I didn't think I'd find myself longing for an Asian style squat toilet but the only stop along the way was for people to use the field at the side of the road, nice. A lot of patience and resilience seems to be required for travelling in Laos!

We are now in Savannakhet for a couple of nights, and will be in Vientienne for Christmas Eve. Savannakhet is a reasonable sized town but everything still feels very laid back and relaxed here. Guess you just have to accept the slower pace of life and go with it! There are quite a few old French style buildings here and the streets are quite interesting to wander around with a few Wat's and museums to visit. Other than that the highlight has to be sitting at one of the many river side food and drink stalls watching the sun go down over Thailand which is literally just across the river.

We are booked onto a VIP bus to Vientienne which in theory should be a bit better than our journey here!