Must have got some sleep , as dont remember arriving at the border. it finally opens at 7am and we all shuffle inside to go through immigration & get our visas. talk about disorganisation - you have to go to various different counters to get it all stamped and paid for. not to mention, that we a re all aware that the "additional fees" amounts to the beer money for the corrupt officials behind the counter!! then one guy says to Emer that she will have to go back to Vietnam, as her passport doent have a full blank page for a Loas visa stamp. so after some pleading and an "extra" charge of US$10, he magically inserts an extra page and all is sorted!!anyway off we go and you can instantly see the difference from Vietnam. there is no insane traffic and all you have to avoid on the roads are random buffalo and chickens which raom freely on the streets!! continue on and again after a few hours the driver needs to pee - so all off and into another bush!! two of the girls on the bus have only started travelling and are going "we cant just squat on the side of the road". well, if I learned nothing else from being on the road, its that if the bus stops, you pee. you dont know when you will be able to again!! all off again and he finally stops for food. stop at a random house thing in the middle of nowhere and thankfully, some guys helps us order, as there is no menu. but its pretty much rice with chicken/pork/beef/veg. back on the bus for a few more hours - no one knows when we are due to arrive!! the scenery is amazing, all lush mountains and paddy fields. there are some small communities along the way - all living in tiny bamboo houses. get to Vientiene about 2pm - a lot earlier than expected. 6 of us decide to keep moving and continue on to vang viene. so get a tuk tuk across town to the other bus station. buy our tickets and ask which bus it is. well, they point at a complete banger, which is already overloaded with everything imaginable on the roof!! so the question is, where do the rucksacks go?? it doesnt take long before we find out - they open a window and throw the rucksacks in!! so thankfully the bus is empty enough that we can spread out and get a window - shockingly, no air con!!! but its back to the dilema of either open the window and dela with the dirt or close the window and sweat like crazy!! the dirt option wins, im already pretty filthy, so a bit more wont make much difference!! get to Vang Viene about 8pm. just check in and go for dinner. watch some episodes of friends - all the restaurants have big teles with friends dvds. flop into bed with no intention of getting up early tom.