I'm in Vang Vieng at the moment in Laos. This is such a beautiful county, one of the things that really stands out is how innocent the kids are. There are hundreds of them playing where ever you go. It's so nice to see that compared to Thailand where their parents get them to beg and they all look so miserable.

I went tubing yesterday and no joke I nearly died. For those of you who don't know what tubing is; basically you hire a big rubber ring and a tuttut drives you up the river, you float downstream about 6km and there's loads of bars where you stop and get really drunk. They all give you free shots with wasps and scorpions in and theres loads of swings and dodgy looking slides that you can play on. Anyway...... in the dry season it takes minimum 3 hours to get to the end but now it is only taking people an hour, the river was flowing so fast and I was hungover so I decided not to drink. Suzanne and I shared a ring, as you float down the river these men on the riverbank throw rope at you with a bottle filled with sand and you have to catch it then they pull you in. The guy threw it but I missed it, anyway Suzanne fell out of the ring and hit her head on the rocks and she must have passed out because i just saw her floating head down so i jumped out to get her, i pulled her up and a man got her out but i lost the ring so i swam off after it but the current pulled me down and I got my legs tangled up in loads of weeds. The current was so strong it actually pulled one of my shoes off - I have never been so scared in my life!! I literally couldn't keep my head above the water, eventually I caught hold of the rope but it took three people to get me out. I swallowed so much water, and we both got scratched all other. I'm now covered in bruises and my legs look like they've been hit with a sledge hammer! Some Irish guy died last week, I totally understand why so many people get hurt, to think i was totally sober and I struggled, thank god I wasn't drunk!

On the up side, I've had so much fun in the bars - they have beach volleyball, tug of war (over a massive mud pit!), mud wrestling, body painting, and various other games involving a can of beer. It hasnt stopped raining since I got here, I met some Dutch girls going to Vientiane tomorrow so I think I am going to go with them.