7am start as there’s a long day of travel ahead. It’ll be a 2h drive to the border crossing with Laos, take a public bus across No Man’s Land, enter Laos, a 20 minute van ride to Huay Xai to board our “luxurious riverboat” to cruise 7-8 hours along the Mekong River to Pak Beng for the night. Whew!

We had to put our hands in our pockets a couple of times at the Laos border entry, ie. had to pay the “weekend rate”, and an unexpected “tourist tax”. It wasn’t a lot of money but annoying as it was an obvious money-grab and we had just stopped at a 7-11 in Thailand and used up our spare baht there.

20 minutes more in a new van and we arrived at our riverboat. A bit of a surprise as it’s open-sided but fortunately they have blankets to warm us from the cool breeze on the water.

The cruise was great – the land on both sides of the Mekong was mostly jungle with the odd banana plantation or corn field. (Our local guide later told me they actually farm black & white sesame, rice, tapioca, hops, and bamboo, so definitely more than the eye can see). However the vegetation is dense with only the occasional house visible. Lots of longboats tied up to the riverbanks and occasionally a fisherman working his nets.

We arrived at our riverside hotel about 4:45pm so just before sunset. Dinner then bed as we have to leave at 6am tomorrow!