This is going to be a speedy entry because the internet here is a little pricey.

I crossed into Laos by taking a flimsy longboat accross the Mekong. A large number of travellers were crossing over as well, but more than 90% of them hopped directly on slow boats headed for Luang Prbang. The "Slow Boat on the Mekong" is a coveted tourist badge. The few travellers left in Houaixai after the morning rush were of the more adventurous kind.

The next morning I rode out on a capricious tuk tuk to the bus station and bought a ticket for Luang Namtha. It took 9 hours to cover a couple hundred km or so on the poorly maintained dirt road. The bus was packed, and not designed for 6 foot frames. We drove through many villages that could have been used as an illustration of how our people lived 1000 years ago.

The town is not far from Myanmar, but it is its proximity to China that is felt the most. Everyhing is written in Chinese script as well as Lao, and Chinese guesthouses, trucks, and people are as present as the native kind.

It is cold here, people pee on the street, spit out of windows, and drive continuously breaking contraptions that would lose to the machines built on Junkyard Wars.

Cheers from Laos...