Right ......grrrrr getting a bit mad with this site but i will continue...
So at Champassak a small town by the river we struck gold Ann and Jean Gui decided to stay at the first guesthouse where they spent 2 nights sharing with cockroaches..????While Rob and Dominic borrowed 2 bikes and cycled off to find better options The owner pointed Marina and I in the direction of his families new hotel in mid build....theupstairs was finished and downstairs wasnt far off ...the rooms were stunning and unused...everything was new cable tv air con brand new sheets new towels...I had died and gone to heaven !!!!! and it cost us £8 a night per room....hmmmmm..expensive not!
Went on the river cruise in the afternoon ...sadly tourism is very new in Laos and things like safety dont come in to it..and what you see is never what you get.Everything is an adventure.Our boat was 2 very old canoes linked together by about 8 planks of wood...they laid on a picnic which was good and we ate as we floated??? but swimming in the Mekong in knee deep water? demonstration of fishing techniques hmmm?This holds true in Cambodia too....nothing is what it seems.VIP buses are a great example of this...we left the next morning all 6 of us on a beautiful brand new Toyota cruiser bus 9 people in total crossed the ferry and drove 10 minutes and because we complained about the bus having a seat missing....they transferred us all to the bus from hell !Luckily it was only 2 hours but the seats were broken we were trapped at the back because all the luggage was rammed in the aisle and it had lost its suspension years ago.....little did we know the bus from hell was yet to rear its ugly head !!!