Wherever you go, there you are

Writing to you THIS time not from Thailand, but from Laos! Border crossing #1 was a success. It only took 4 hours! Well, ok maybe 2 and a half. but from one country, to 'in transit' in the other it was about 4 hours :) No matter! We had a lovely couple of days floating down the Mekong to Luang Prabang in Laos, yesterday a little chilly but today SUNNY and warm! Taking a step back, our last day in Pai, we got up the courage to rent some motorbikes and jet around to see some waterfalls, a bizarre Chinese village (more like a theme park) and some 'Wats". Soo fun to scoot around but a little challenging on the other side of the road! Handing back our bikes, we (reluctantly) waved goodbye to Pai and caught an evening bus to Chiang Khong, the Thai town on the Thai-Laos border. Arriving at 33am, we were taken to our 'complimentary' room for the remainder of the evening. Plans to shower were quickly dismissed as we discovered our sink full of creatures and an ant farm in the bathroom. Slept like no tomorrow, and woke up to find Sarah not there. All her things (shoes, money, sleeping stuff) was there, so I thought she might have just stepped out. 20 minutes later, still no sign, so I got my shoes on and went to look for her. Didn't have to look very far; she was sleeping on a bench with a quilt right outside the room, because it smelt too much like sewer. Not even kidding (this place was a winner but hey it was 'free'). The morning consisted of bussing to breakfast, booking our 'slow boat', bussing to leave the Thai border, taking a ferry across a river, waiting around 1 hour to get Laos VISAs (gong show), getting a tuk-tuk to a convenience store to buy snacks for the trip, then finally borading our boat! We left Huay Xai (may be wrong) at around 1230 and sailed the day away, arriving at our halfway point, Pak Beng, at around 6pm. Sarah and I jumped to the back, grabbed our bags, ran off the boat, scaled a small mud mountain, and booked it to a hostel to get a room, as we hadn't booked ahead. Luckily we got a cheap (300 baht) room... some of the slower ones were stuck with 700 baht. Noo thanks! After a dinner and early bedtime, we headed to bed. Wake up call this morning at 7am for breakfast, take away lunch (baguette sandwiches) and we were off again! Today was so nice, sunny all day, got quite toasty! Arrived here in Luang Prabang at around 6pm, same routine as yesterday (booking it off the boat), and we wandered a bit, finding a great place! Water, coffee , tea, free wifi, BALCONY. Jackpot. Off to bed after this post - booking activities tomorrow!!! Until next time...