All this had been achieved through our tuk-tuk driver (apart from the guide on day 1 which the hotel arranged) who was our self-appointed chauffeur for our stay. Every time we emerged from our hotel the cry went up “Kereeeeeeeesteeeeeen!!” as he claimed us for his own. He was actually lovely but there was one occasion when he declared he was taking us for a tour around the town and he was taking us to see a cement mixer!! We were a bit puzzled until we arrived at our destination where we found it was a place that did ceramics!! 
We also marvelled at (and quickly got used to) the traffic system there. No-one ever stopped at junctions but eased their way over to the correct lane. Occasionally we would turn in to the oncoming traffic which was hair-raising at first but everyone was so accommodating and allowed motor-cycles (which were ubiquitous from Phnom Penh onwards), tuk-tuks and bikes to move over to where they should be. No road rage and only one accident to be seen - wouldn’t have happened over here! However it was now time to move on to Laos.While our flight was booked and ticketed as a direct flight we knew there would be a stopover in Pakse and that we would have to clear Immigration there. We were travelling on Lao Airlines and again on an ATR72 and our tuk-tuk driver delivered us to the airport in good time. Our checked bags were screened and check-in and security were quickly completed. Our flight was scheduled for 10:05am but we were on board in plenty of time and the flight actually departed 30 minutes early at 9:35am!!
After the security briefing which again was telling us how to fasten the seat belt and where the exit doors were we were served with a snack box,
At Pakse we knew we would have to clear Immigration and Chris and I were 5th and 6th in the line for visas. I later counted that there were seventeen of us altogether who were applying for visas. We queued up and at the counter was one man processing all of us while six guys lounged around the Immigration counters. It was a slow laborious process. We had all filled in the requisite forms but yer man took these forms and slowly copied our names, dates of birth, passport number, country of issue and expiration date into a maths exercise book exactly like the ones we had all used in Junior School!! He then handed the forms back to us and we moved to another line to await events. Just as I joined that line the cavalry arrived in the form of a pleasant young woman who took our forms, copied the same information into a similar book, filled in a visa form which she then stuck with meticulous precision into our passports. When she got to mine she leisurely perused my passport which admittedly was getting pretty full trying to decide on which page she would stick the visa.
Back and forth she went before deciding to use a page which once the US authorities had used to staple on the visa-waiver green form. However it was not enough to remove the stub from the form; the staple had to be removed too. All I could think of was thank goodness we had arrived half an hour early especially as there were twelve people behind me still to be processed. Eventually the page was cleared to her satisfaction and with the meticulousness of an interior decorator papering a wall she lined up the visa before sticking it into my passport. It looked like a work of art!! After that it was through to Immigration which posed no problems and hot on my heels came Chris whose visa had not been as half as problematic as mine. Once through I headed for the Ladies where the mustard coloured tiles somewhat clashed with the shocking-pink toilet paper! On leaving I spotted a Happy New Year sign.
The flight took off on time and much to our surprise we were served another snack box and more coffee. This time it was an almond flaked roll filled with a mild cheese filling and another roll filled with bean curd paste. The flight was roughly an hour and a quarter and soon we were landing in Vientiane. At this stage it was a domestic flight so there were no formalities. The luggage belt was similar to the ones seen in security - in other words it wasn’t on a loop. At the end were porters ready to take the bags off the belt and as we left the area we had to show our baggage tags and have them checked against the tags on our cases.
After that we were greeted by a tiny Lao man who ushered us to a huge people carrier/SUV vehicle. I personally wondered if his feet could reach the pedals but he delivered us safely to our hotel but not before we had noticed that the Lao flag was interspersed with the Hammer and Sickle. Oh dear! Some people finding it hard to let go?
Oh and another vote for the cruise TR 
