Hello again. We made it to Chiang Khong although the bus trip was uncomfortable. We were crammed into the bus, Sharon wedged against the window and I, wedged against all the luggage which gradually toppled onto me. We managed to catch forty winks but the bus kept hitting larger and larger potholes as we travelled further north. My sleep was abruptly ended when one pothole threw me out of the seat and into the ceiling!

Chiang Khong was getting dark when we arrived, but we managed to get a glimpse of Laos across the Mekong, glittering in the night on the far shore. The room was terrible. None of the windows worked, so wether they were open or shut, that was how they remained. Ours was open and the evening brought a chill that we hadn't expected. So we had a cold night, Stephen sleeping in his hooded fleece, Sharon in her socks and tee shirt. There was the usual pre dawn chorus from the roosters, but to be honest, we were glad to get up and get some warm clothes on!

The Mekong was shrouded in a heavy fog and we had a cold al fresco breakfast. Soon after though, we were off down to the river for the short trip to the Laos side and the melee that was Laos immigration. There was no organisation and a few westerners tempers flared as we were pushed and pulled from one queue to the next. We did alright though, adopting that Laos mentality of just waiting patiently until the formalities sorted themselves out.

We changed some money at a small shop, 2000 baht (30 quid) getting us 300,000 Lao Kip. We were done really, as the exchange rate should've got us 500,000. The problem was our kip was in 5000 notes and constituted a huge wad of notes far too big to count there and then. We just had to trust the shopkeeper. It was a shame our trust was misplaced. Still, you live and learn!

We were soon aboard our boat for the two day trip downstream. At first they tried to squeeze us all onto one boat, but it was never going to be safe, so a few people kicked up a fuss and a second boat was layed on. We dropped lucky and were among the first onto the second boat and managed to grab the last of the comfy seats. These were seats taken out of an old bus and compared with the hard wooden benches that everyone else got were real luxury. There were many envious eyes on us as the rest of the passengers embarked!

Then we were off. It was a fabulous day, slowly chugging along with the jungle covered mountains unfolding before our eyes. There was plenty of Lao beer,(which is an excellent drop) and quite a communal spirit. We floated along all day until we came to our overnight stop at Pak Beng.