We left Chang Mai and caught a mini bus to the border so we could cross into Laos at Huang Xai. It all went fine, despite us making the mistake of letting someone else organise our visas for us. Basically they took our passports, drove down to the border, got the visa for us, drove back up, then charged us $12 each for the privilege of them doing something we could easily have done ourselves. How to rip off a tourist in one easy step... Live and learn... We stayed the night in Huang Xai drinking beer with a great German girl called Sandra, the only German teacher in the capital of Mongolia, and responsible for running their German programme! Woken up by roosters crowing, blissfully unaware that it was only 5am, and obviously never having
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