Bye Bye Chiang Mai, hello Houay Xai

Day 4 in Chiang Mai: spent most of it in bed, sick from a combination of bad food and an allergy to exhaust fumes and heat (not a made-up ailment, I swear). Recovered by evening in time to spend my last night in Chiang Mai perusing the Night Market and taking full advantage of the night life.

One all-night goodbye party later and I found myself (miraculously) on the bus heading out of Chiang Mai at 6AM, bound for the Thailand-Laos border crossing at Chiang Khong. I slept most of the way, woken only by the screeching brakes of the bus from time to time as it swerved to avoid hitting a wayward dog or cow.

Crossing from Chiang Khong into the Lao town of Houay Xai was uneventful, which is probably how border crossings should be. A cursory glance at my passport and travel visa, and the border patrolman shooed me on with a wave of his hand and I walked up the hill to the first (and truthfully only) main road to find lodging. Houay Xai serves primarily as a major border-entry point, with just the one dusty road lined with guest houses and travel agencies as its main attraction. Translation: nothing to see here, folks.

I found ... adequate ... accomodations for the night, and picked up some Australian friends to share a beer with over dinner.

Lessons learned for this portion of the journey:
- Do not take 8 hours bus trips while hungover
- Australians are hilarious, sometimes difficult to understand
- Houay Xai is pretty boring