Well, finally arrived in Pakse at around 5:45am this morning. The coach journey was fine really, 9 hours instead of 12 due to an erratic driver and better route! It goes without saying that I didn't sleep a wink but the coach -sorry, VIP bus- was amazing! There were TVs that actually WORKED, air conditioning, nice comfy blankets, seats that reclined so far you were practically horizontal, free meal (granted it wasn't vegan and smelled rancid, but still it was FREE and that's the important thing), free bottle of water, free sweets (again not vegan but at least Dave got lots) and even face wipes to freshen up as we were arriving. I was impressed. I know "free" is usually deceptive in these situations as we did pay $17 (over 8 quid) and usually for a similar length journey here it'd be about 4-5 quid but twas worth it. Pakse is pants. Completely. In the Lonely Planet there isn't the usual section of "things to see and do", this is because there isn't anything to see or do. The weather is also crap as we arrived in torrential rain and although it's stopped now it's still pretty grim. On the bright side we have a nice guesthouse with sheets, hot showers and even a TV and fridge! When we arrived about 6:15am this morning we watched Austin Powers and then crashed out for a few hours. Well, I did and then I got up and showered and have gone out to eat, use internet and do laundry (all very exciting). Dave's still sleeping. We're here with Frank and Steve, two Irish guys we met trekking in Chiang Mai and we're all leaving tomorrow (if we sort our tickets first) to Si Phan Don. If we don't manage to sort our tickets though then we'll be waving off Frank and Steve and heading straight back to Bangkok tomorrow to fly to Sri Lanka on wednesday. Hope you're all well and happy but feeling mighty guilty about not sending me lots of emails to keep me entertained while Dave sleeps, loadsa love Jessxxx