So after a cold night we woke up early to a chilly start. Charlie cooked us pancakes for breakfast and made us a cup of tea. We carried our bags down to the border and got signed out of Thailand. To get into Laos we had to cross the Mekong river. We did this on a long wooden canoe boat. We all got in with all our bags as well, its amazing how it didnt sink. It only took 2 minutes at the most to cross the river. We then had to climb out of the boat with our bags and walk up the muddy shore to immagration. It took a little while for all of us to pass through as we had to get our visas sorted out. When we were all done we walked up the street a little bit and around the corner to find the orange Stray bus. Also waiting there were Si our local guide and Sin our driver. We loaded our bags onto the roof and then went to find an ATM. In Laos the currency is Kip. We were advised to get out 1,000,000 from the ATM. Thats right 1 million! Finally I was a millionaire. Well kind of, as it was the equivalent of £80. We then got into the Stray bus and began our journey to Luang Namtha.

It was a very scenic ride through mountains and valleys. We passed by villages at the side of the road. We stopped at one village to have a lok around. Our local guide Si explained about the style of houses. They were built on stilts so they were raised off the ground. There were dogs running around the village and free roaming pigs and chickens. It was also the first time we could use the new word we had learnt on the bus, Sa bah dee which means hello in Lao. The villagers were very shy especilly the children. They mostly just peeped at us as we walked by and perhaps waved to us.

We continued in the bus and stopped in another small village for lunch. It was a bowl of noodles with a couple of bits of chicken on the top. I ate some of it but i didnt eat all of it as I couldnt eat a big bowl of plain noodles. I wasnt the only one that didnt eat it all. We started to feed them to a few of the street dogs that were walking around. They seemed to appreciate it. Then we carried on to Luang Namtha and arrived in the early afternoon.

We stayed in a very nice hotel called Dog Champa. I shared a twin room with Lizie. It had a television, tea and coffee and more importantly hot showers. Also in the cupboard we found two big, fluffy duvets so they went on the bed straight away. In the evening we walked around the local market. There were plenty of stalls selling food such as chicken feet on sticks and eggs. Some people bought some food from these stalls but I went to a restaurant with a few others and enjoyed a very nice carbonara with garlic bread. We also ordered breakfast for the next day as they did full Englis breakfasts. After a few drinks at the restaurant there was a visit to the Chinese disco followed by a very cosy nights sleep.