We were met by a local guide as we crossed the border in Lao, so could relax a little as his English is pretty good and he took care of the immigration formalities for us.

Leaving the border area we were greeted by lush green terrain and much calmer roads, which was just as well given the hairpin bends that we had come accustomed to closer to the border on the Vietnamese side.

There are less motorbikes in Lao but many of the locals we passed were decked out with the familiar conical hats which I had believed were distinctive to Vietnam. In fact its much like Vietnam here but calm and tranquil. I think I'm going to like it here ;)!