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Having said goodbye to Catherine in Vientiane, we headed right down to southern Laos - destination Si Phan Don (4000 islands). Transport was bus, minibus and boat (around 13 hours in total), so more numb bum and lack of sleep.

This region must be the most ridiculously relaxed places so far. Even the Mekong river looks as if it has stopped bothering to flow. No clocks. No timetables. So quiet you can hear broken conversations on the opposite bank of the river, without being able to make out the people.

We stayed on Don Khong, but Don Det attracts the younger crowd with mad-cheap single room bungalows and homegrown dagga, but the electricity goes off mid-evening so no lights or fans. Not great at 35 degrees.

An older, aloof French guy we shared a boat with, carrying what looked like professional filmcrew kit, and a brand new Hartmann suitcase was moved to ask our Lao captain "eez eet true zat zuh peepool come eer to take drog and steal ze luggage of tourist?" Not really mate, they're all asleep. But they might be tempted with you.