Farang means foreigner in Lao and I was the only one on the bus. The journey until the boarder was uneventful apart from the smouldering wreckage of an oil tanker we past. We also stopped for lunch but seeing as I had no money I couldn't purchase any food. At the boarder you had to bribe the Laos boarder officials with $3 (on top of the outrageously priced visa, $65 for one month). You also had to bribe the Vietnamese officials (slightly less money this time). I don't know if I paid too much or too little or whether it was because I was last in the que but the officer who was checking my passport took an age. I think he thought it was a fake or maybe he just has something against the British but he honestly took 10 times longer than he had for anyone else, I thought I was going to get turned away. Around half 6 I was dropped at the Northern end of Hue, leaving me with a very long walk to the tourist district, where all the hotels are. I got a room at the same place as I stayed with Rob and George and surprisingly the receptionist recognised me. By this time I was starving, having not eaten for 24 hours. After a shower I went for a pizza and as that wasn't enough I went to another restaurant for some fried rice.
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