Day 26: Laos!!!

Today’s the day we head to Laos - we had a full day of travelling ahead of us. We left Chiang Mai at 6am and spent 5 hours travelling to the border. We had a pitstop on the way at Cabbage and Condom (a HIV charity project) where I had my last Thai Ice Tea, sad times. We crossed the border on a coach and then collected a visas before heading to the river. We spent the next 5 hours cruising along the river in a slow boat, run by a lovely family who had cooked us a lovely lunch. We arrived at Pakbeng for our night stopover where we stayed in a little guest house. There wasn't much going on in this town, it was a little creepy and dark as we discovered walking to the ATM! We all had a traditional Lao meal together in the evening. Their national dish is minced pork with lemon grass, which I did try, but I wasn't a fan!