We had a leisurely drive down the mighty Mekong, staying at Pak Chom, and dining on baked fish overlooking the Mekong, on the way to the border crossing town of Nong Khai, where we met Rex, crew member #4, who flew in to Vientiane from Hanoi and taxied down to the Friendship Bridge crossing. We also bought a third battery for the Toyota and Rex bought some Lao SIM cards for our phones. We also heard from Bill, crew member #5 that the Whippet had arrived in Bangkok and all was ready for it to be trucked to Nong Khai on Friday 2 May. This meant that Ian and John could cross to Laos and start out north, while Gerry and Rex waited to ensure that Bill’s Whippet would only be one day behind as we headed for our non-negotiable appointment for our crossing into China at 7am Wednesday 7 May.