We're in Laos - yay!
We crossed the border from Thailand by boat to the other side of the Mekong river, and Hey Presto we were in Laos. All it took was a 20 Bhat (about 60c) fee to the customs officers - for their overtime. Ha ha. They charge overtime after 4pm - and for any visa processing that they do at lunchtime...
We spent the night in the border town of Huay Xai - just like any other border town, and from there we chartered a long tail boat to take us to Luang Nam Tha. The journey took 2 days, starting on the Mekong heading South for a couple of hours before turning North up the Nam Tha river.
The scenery was spectacular. Jungle walls rising out of the water, with villages dotted along the river banks. The trip was so quiet and peaceful - only the sound of our boat struggling upriver through little rapids. We spent the night in a village at the house of our boatman. The villagers live in wooden houses built on stilts. Almost every house has a loom underneath it where they weave beautiful textiles.
We arrived in Luang Nam Tha late afternoon. Just intime to get ourselves a place to stay and then settle in for some BeerLao. Ahhhh.