Laos a whole new country

After a fun 15 days in North Thailand I moved across to Laos a whole new little but spectacular country with a population of only 5.6 million. A 7 hour bus journey followed by 7 hours on a boat brings you to Laos. I took the border crossing option from Chiang Khong in Thailand to Huay Xai in Laos once through the bureaucracy and time involved in crossing to boarder laos is a wonderful country to get lost in. I stayed the night in Pak Beng along with the others making the crossing by boat. pak beng is like a wild west town all wooden and on a dusty hill road. The laid back people and their smiles hits you and along with a cold beer laos made me feel instantly at home. the next day we continued our journey towards Luang Prabang by boat (a further 10 hours)

If you don't like boats or don't fancy getting a numb bum being on one for so long i would advise flying from Thailand into Luang Prabang laos saving three days. Although the boat trip was very scenic and I met some great people I was sick of it by the end and think thats were I caught Dengue fever which dramatically scuppered my plans in Laos !!!