The 4-hour boat ride from Muang Khua ended in Hat Sa, a small village that is the boat landing serving Phongsali town an hour drive away. My Dutch companion Annetta and I arrived in Hat Sa at just before 6pm to find no road transport in Hat Sa and no guesthouse! We were told no one owned any vehicles in Hat Sa, so we'd have to stay the night and wait in the morning. A shop owner by the boat landing offered us his shop floor for 8,000 kip each. Considering that I've been paying 10,000 kip in Northern Laos almost everywhere for my own room, I felt that was a bit steep. Even the 6,000 kip he came down to was too much, so out with the tent I've been carrying these last few months! Annetta was keen to camp so in the darkness, I found a sandy bit of ground just big enough and pitched the tent, not without difficulty, by torch light. It's just big enough for 2 small people, like Annetta and myself. I found a single noodle stall in Hat Sa a 10-minute walk up the hill almost out of the village. It was inhabited by 2 very drunk locals who continually pestered me to drink with them while I ate my noodles. I was pleased to pay and leave! After a fairly restless night, we were awoken at 5:30am by the locals coming down to their boats and hanging round the tent which was obviously a bit of a novelty for them! I packed up everything ready to leave on the 9am truck. However, this truck ARRIVES in Hat Sa at 9am; it doesn't leave for Phongsali until 2pm when the scheduled boats from Muang Khua arrive! No other options presented themselves, so I unpacked my tent, laid it out to dry in the sun and waited. About half an hour later, another pick-up arrived, having been chartered by a group of Chinese who then took off in a speedboat. Negotiations started as the pick-up driver didn't want to upset the scheduled truck driver by stealing his passengers. In the end, whoever jumped onto his pick-up as he drove away, he took! One hour later, at last, we were in Phongsali. Hat Sa proved an interesting diversion and I found some French in the back of my memory to speak to an old man in the village. The boat landing was also very picturesque in the morning as the mist lifted but I wouldn't recommend Hat Sa as a planned stopover!