I decided it was time to do some travelling by myself and left the comfort of traveling with others and went in the opposite direction, North West. I wasn’t alone for long… as soon as I left the guesthouse and arrived at the port for the slow boat to Pakbeng I met a fellow northerner, Eve from South Manchester! We spent the whole day on a slow boat up the Mekong River looking at the fabulous scenery, playing cards, talking, reading and sleeping. We spent the night in the quiet northern town of Pakbeng. The next day we boarded the boat again for another full day heading to the border with Thailand – Huay Xai. We spent the night there and the next day Eve entered into Thailand and I went further north. I left on a local bus for Luang Nam Tha. I left at 9.30am and we arrived at 7pm. The bus was overcrowded and with no air conditioning or even fans it was unbearably hot! Everyone had the windows open and dust blew through the bus the whole day. I was covered from head to toe in red dust! The roads were being improved and many times we had to wait whilst a JCB moved huge piles of rubble to clear a path for the bus! We had to wait sometimes for 40 minutes before we could move on! It was a nightmare. The next day I hired a bike and set off on my own to explore the town. I was riding along by a river when the path suddenly came to an end, I didn’t want to turn back and saw two logs across the river, making a bridge. I started to make my way across, when the wheel of the bike slipped and the log I was standing on snapped and I fell in! I didn’t expect the water to be so deep! I got to the side, which just consisted of sinking mud and I couldn’t get out! Local kids came running along shouting ‘farang, farang' as I scrambled my way out! They helped me get the bike across the bridge and I had to cycle back through the village soaked to the skin! How embarrassing? I felt sorry for myself and headed for a sign I had seen advertising ‘herbal sauna and massage’ this was not what it seemed though. I was shown to a tiny hut that was pitch black inside. The guy then began lighting a fire underneath and told me to get in. The smoke (more like steam) starting pouring into the sauna and it got really hot. It was lovely though, breathing in all the nice herbal aromas. After my sauna he gave me a massage – this guy was tiny about 5ft and really skinny but the hours massage was torture! He was so strong and tried bending my arms and legs in all directions! Obviously Laotions are more flexible than us westerners! I felt great afterwards though – and all that for $3! Bargain! It was really cold in the north and that night I had socks, tracksuit pants, a jumper, a poncho and two quilts over and was still cold!