We made it to Phongsali. It's right up there in the tippety top of Laos, the province is surrounded on 3 sides by China - so there's a pretty strong Chinese influence in town.
We were lucky to catch a boat headed North. Gas is expensive so the boats don't run every day. They wait until there are enough people to fill a boat before they'll head upstream. We met a Lao family who had been waiting 2 days....
The trip took just over 5 hours. It rained the whole way, it was cold, and the sky was grey. We pulled into the town of Hat Sa, which is basically stopping off point for river travel - not much to see, and just one very basic guest house for use in an emergency, if you can't get yourself out of town.....
It took a little sign language, and some skilled mime performance, but we discovered that there was a possibility of a truck going to Phongsali town that afternoon. So we waited. It cost us $2 each, and the ride was bumpy - but we made it.