05th & 6th Jan: I chose to put the 2 days together, as I really didn't do a great deal in Vientaine! I left from Vang Vieng early on the 5th and had a room in Vientaine, (which is the capital of Laos) by 12 and was out and about exploring. It is a city, but fairly small and set along a huge lake, which was nice to sit and chill. I knew I'd only be staying 1 night, so I booked a bus for Bangkok for late evening on the 6th and after that was done, went ...

01 Jan: Arrived around 4pm after a very long & winding road that was a bit funny at some times given my fragile state, but it was really easy to find a guest house compared to Luang Prabang. Once I had my room, I put the majority of my clothes in for the laundry and set off about town. It's really small and laid back with lots of cafes and places showing episodes of Friends and surrounded my massive mountains. I found myself a cafe bar with cushions on th...

28th Dec: Getting up was easy - only needed to catch the bus at 9am and it was a 5 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong. Once there, I just had to sort out my visa for Laos and get the ferry across to Huay Xai, which was very simple and on the other side I found a guest house. Had some rice and went out. Not much there - no internet, but there was a bar and at thebar I discovered Beer Lao and met loads of people who where due on the boat the next day....