Thursday morning, lest we forget. Wake early after a great night's sleep, turn over and have an extra 10 minutes,only to wake at 9 am to realise breakfast service stops at half past. One thing we do, when travelling, if breakfast is included in our hotel deal, we feast, it fires us up for the whole day. Trip advisor reviews of breakfast here, not good, but as long as copious amounts of tea/coffee and a slice of toast, we're good to go. Breakfast is much better than expected, but as we are late the food a little cool. Choosing a table overlooking the river, stunning views of the huge Limstone Karsts surrounding us, we start to eat, but are immediately engaged by a lone German Lady called Heather, who is a seasoned traveller. Nice Lady, so ... read more

Tuesday After a great night's sleep we are up,ready, and out on the streets of Vientiane by 9am. Most of the sites we want to visit are within comfortable walking distance, we say 'most', more about that later. First point of interest, the Victory Gate (Patuxai), an oriental version of the Arc de Triomphe, constructed in 1964 from cement pilfered from the Americans, originally intended for an airfield. It was built to honour the lives lost during the Laos civil war. But, due to continuing struggles with the Americans, never quite finished. Impressive none the less and for an entrance fee of 30 pence, you can walk to the top on crumbling but wide staircases. Paula conquers her fears and makes it to the very pinnacle via a narrow spiral staircase and we are rewarded with ... read more

Saturday afternoon, we leave Pakse feeling we have made the most of our time here. Taking a photo of our airport transfer vehicle, a beautifully painted Tuk-Tuk, not that flash truck pictured next to it! A quirky 20minutes run, which we shared with a French couple whose destination was Vientiane, same plane, different destination. Very small airport, all formalities completed within minutes and we're up and landed in Savannakhet in 35 minutes, both agreeing that it is our shortest ever flight. On arrival, the weather is sunny and very warm. Not having booked onward travel to downtown Savannakhet, we take up an offer from a little old toothless guy, holding the hand of a young boy, no older than 5yrs, the most unlikely-looking taxi touts, but touts they were indeed. Asking for a cheeky 70,000 kip ... read more

Anticipating a full day tour by VIP MiniBus, provider Pakse Travel, we are up, breakfasted and outside our hotel by 7.40am. There are 5 of us being picked up for the same tour, an English couple from London, Julie and Alan, and a German lady called Renata, a Scandinavian girl called Sally and a guy whose name we can't recall. So we're all on first name terms and off to a great start. Before long our 12 seater is full to bursting point and a rather strange French lady ends up next to our driver. She turns out to be a pain in the proverbial, but that's another story. Yesterday we changed our travel plans for our onward trip to Savannakhet, mainly because we didn't fancy a 7 hour public bus trip, so opted for a ... read more