We were up, packed and out for breakfast. I nipped off to buy another bag as the one bought in Bangkok was knackered (piece of crap! I wasn't even fake!). And then a nice relaxing wait until 1:30 for the VIP bus. As usual it was late. We were loaded into a pickup and drove around the block before we unloaded and got on the bus. We left the town at 2:30. I stuck on my MP3 player and sat back for a few hours.

We got dropped off on a main road in Vientiane and, as we weren't in the mood for guesthouse hunting, we headed off for some food. In my guidebook the bar we went to was supposed to be one of the best places. We didn't have much hope for the city. With five of us sat down to eat as usual someones food turned up after everyone else had finished. This time it was Dirks turn.

We went to a guesthouse recommended in all our guidebooks only to find it full, so we went to the one behind it and booked in.

A couple of hours tidying ourselves up saw us congregating outside for a trip down to the river were there are supposed to be a lot of bars and restaurants. We found a market and fair in full swing, but only a couple of bars. We had a couple of carafes (great word, eh Dirk?) of beer and investigated the fair before heading for the central fountain where a few pictures were taken before we went for a beer closer to the guesthouse.

Again Dave stopped out a little later.... I offered to get a single room earlier, but I don't think he took me seriously.