Next stop after the Bornean jungle was Hanoi in Vietnam. We arrived on Friday night and, after a slightly stressful time at the airport trying to work out which taxi we could trust to take us into town (there are loads of cons including taking you to their mates rubbish hotels which happen to have the same name as yours!) we made it to our hotel.

After a couple of weeks of cheap hostels we had decided to book a slightly more expensive hotel in the city centre as it seemed that you could get a lot more for your money in Vietnam. This was a good decision and turned out to be one of the best hotels we have stayed in on our whole trip! We got upgraded to the best room on the top floor which was really nicely decorated, although the bride and groom teddy bears were slightly unnecessary :-)!!

We spent the next day taking a walking tour around the old part of the city. I had hoped that Vietnam would be a cool relief from the sweltering Bornean jungle ... But no it was hotter. Sweating standing still doesn't even start to describe it! Anyway we made it through the day with iced coffee, hand held fans and a siesta in the air conditioned hotel :-)! For lunch we ate at a street cafe selling noodles with beef and vegetables in a broth. All the locals where there and it was yummy.

On Sunday we were due to get a flight to Luang Prabang in Laos at midday. Annoyingly this was delayed for three hours because of technical problems so we spent most of the day in the most boring airport in Asia! When we did get on the plane it was absolutely tiny and I was slightly terrified we were going to crash. Luckily we didn't and we made it to Luang Prabang late that afternoon.

We had a wander around while it was still light and had a peek at some of the temples. Eventually we ended up at a bar with a jungle themed outside area and we sat and had a table BBQ of wild boar and chicken with noodles and vegetable soup. It was delicious but we had decided on what we were going to eat after a few cocktails/beers and we hadn't considered the fact that it was still over 30 degrees and a BBQ right in your face probably wasn't the best option. At least we got a little extra salt with our meat ;-)!!

On Monday the heat was really starting to get to us but I put on my trousers and covered my shoulders as we were off to the main temple and palace. The palace had a beautiful temple outside it but the inside was fairly plain. In cabinets they displayed gifts given to the royals from other counties and one cabinet showed a rather ugly silver pot from Denmark! Unfortunately the main temple in the town was under refurbishment so not as spectacular as it could have been.

After all this temple viewing it was time for a cold drink and some lunch before another air conditioned siesta time. In the afternoon we went in search of a traditional Lao massage. We found a place where a one hour massage was £4 and I thought it was one of the best massages I have ever had, Esben wasn't so sure. They apply lots of pressure all over your body and you wear these funny loose fitting pyjamas :-)! In the evening we tried some traditional Lao food in a house that a lady had turned into a restaurant.

On Tuesday we finally bit the bullet and hired a scooter for the day. We had both been a bit nervous about this as neither of us had driven one for years but after a quick practice it was easy to get the hang of it again. For the benefit of both sets of parents here I would like to add that we both wore helmets and have insurance for scooter driving.

We drove to some waterfalls about 40km from the town centre which were extremely powerful due to it being the end of the rainy season. I swam but Esben was too scared so he took pictures ;-)! The water was very muddy but refreshing and fish nibbled at my toes.

On the way back we had a traditional Lao experience when we had to bribe a policeman because we went the wrong way down an unmarked 'one way' road! It was infuriating but you can't show anger in this part of Asia as it is extremely disrespectful and everyone gets very upset so we ended up paying him about £7 to get my driving licence back which I had stupidly handed over. I suppose we shouldn't have expected any less from the 11th most corrupt country in the world. Looking back on it it was quite funny but a sad insight into life for the Lao people.

In the evening we walked up to a temple on the top of a hill in the centre of town. It was bloody boiling and the sweat was dripping from us constantly as we watched the sun set over the mountains. We were once again a bit overwhelmed by the heat and didn't fancy much dinner so we are at a small French wine bar on the street and shared a cheese and meat board before an early night.

It had rained every night since we had arrived in Luang Prabang usually with some pretty impressive house shaking thunder but nothing compared to the last night. It rained from sun down until lunch time the following day and the thunderstorm boomed all night long. The rain was so heavy and made a huge amount of noise at it poured down. This, unfortunately, was the day we had booked to take the minivan from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and so begun our journey from hell.

The minivan was meant to leave at 2pm and pick us up at 1.30pm. At 2.15pm (after a few calls) a tuk tuk arrived to take us to the bus station. On the way we picked up 6 other people and were rammed together in the tiny tuk tuk for the short journey. The minivan eventually left at 3.15pm and slowly begun to make its way out of town. Unfortunately the rains had caused mudslides everywhere, trees were down, lorries were stuck and tractors were trying to clear the road. What was meant to take 5 hours ended up taking 12 and at one point the driver told us we might have to spend the night in the minivan as he didn't know if the road would be cleared before morning!!! It was horrible and we ended up getting to bed after 3am. An adventure but not one I wish to repeat.... ever.

Now we are enjoying some relaxing luxury in Vang Vieng. I will blog again soon.

Alice
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