Ok, best write something after receiving various complaints. Laos is just fantastic. No other place we've been to yet can compare. It took us all of about an hour to realize that!

We arrived from Thailand into Vientiane - the "capital". Well - there's nothing higher than 5 storeys and the whole city goes to sleep at 11! We came back to the hotel at 0100 the first night to a locked door! Had to wake the security guard up - oops!

The scenery and all that b******s is great, but it's the people that make this country - I can honestly say that I've never met such beautiful people as the Lao

We took a little boat up the Mekhong yesterday and asked us to take us somewhere no one else goes (we're based in Luang Prabang now) He took us to a little ramshackle village and just pointed to the mud path up. The people there at first seemed to have nothing, living in little shacks with old worn clothes - but I honestly think that they had everything they wanted. Everyone looked like they'd never seen a foreigner b4, but the children were so exited to see us (especially blonde Emma) that they all came out to say "Sabai Dee" They don't beg, they don't hussle, and are generally happier if you join in in their games than anything else. We saw some fairly what we would call "primitive" tribes on the way up here - children of maybe 6-7 carrying their baby brothers or sisters up the mountains, and working the crops, but everytime you get eye contact with anyone their faces light up!

The last few days I've really wondered if "western people" really are any further on the human civilization scale, or if we've actually gone full circle. Every time I walk along a street, and get a smile and a greeting from pretty much every Lao I walk past, I think of how many strangers would have done the same in Oslo? They have all the BIG words in their heart and soul like Love, Compassion, Respect.

Anyway, bloody hell, I'm sounding like a real nob here, but so far Laos has been a real mind blowing experience for me, and soooo different to Malaysia and especially Thailand!

We're taking the 10 hr bus back to Vientiane tomorrow, and then have decided to change our plans and travel on into southern Laos, eventually crossing into Cambodia. Apparently there are only local buses there (which are never full according to the drivers, the last one we saw had cattle in it and 4 scooters on the roof, pluss a few people!) and the crossing to Cambodia is a bit sketchy!

We've had one bit of bad news - I booked train tickets from Hanoi to Beijing(2 nights) before we even left, but now the Vietnam Railway says that we need to turn up in person with original passports to reserve the tickets, and it's the end of the Chinese new year, so they have hardly any left! Well, first we thought I could fly over there and get them, but My visa isn't valid until 9/2 and it's single entry, and can't be changed now! Emma could have flown in, as she's Swedish and doesn't need a visa but won't fly! After a lot of nail biting discussion we've come to the conclusion that there's absolutely f all we can do, but get into Saigon on the 9th and hope for the best. The flight from Hanoi - Beijing would be 3,5 hrs and Emma says she's not up for that which I understand! Pretty s***ty, as we've booked the trans siberian (we hope) as well as hostel in Moscow and tickets from there! Only time will tell, we might decide to relocate to Laos if all goes pear shaped!

Byeeeeeeeeee!