We cycled off the to the route 13 to catch a songthaew back to Pakse. We did this because we couldn't find out where we could pick one up in Muang Khong. Luck was on our side again - as we got to the route 13, a songthaew pulled up behind us and on we climbed.

I am afraid to say we are taking the chicken run and heading out of Laos as soon as we can get into Vietnam. For some reason we just haven't managed to make a connection with Laos. Perhaps our expectations were unrealistic.

Back in Pakse, we had some breakfast then headed to the Vietnamese consulate to apply for visas. There is a two working day processing period so we can only collect them on Friday.

We settled into the Alisa Hotel and got down to some work that we need to get done by this weekend.

We had lunch at the same restaurant where we had breakfast and just before our food arrived witnessed a hit-and-run where a motor cyclist was knocked off his bike by a minibus. The victim didn't move for about 10 minutes and we expected the worst but he finally got up and went off some police officers who had arrived.