So we finally made it to Laos, 3 days, 2 boats & who knows how many bottles of BeerLao later. What was meant to be a 2 day scenic boat trip down the Mekong, descended into a Booze Cruise that the Med would be proud of!

It all started with an 8 hour minibus ride to the border, where we met fellow passengers (& bad influences) from Ireland, Scotland & America who were all staying in the same guesthouse that night. We decided that after such a long journey it was only fair to reward ourselves with a few large beers, so the English, the Scottish, the Irish & the Americans walked into a bar & bad jokes aside, you can guess the rest... Very soon we were all extremely drunk & starting on the Thai whisky in preparation for our epic boat journey. And this was only Day 1...

The following morning was to be our very first border crossing (by land) and we soon learnt the hard way that this is not the best time to be hungover. In our drunken stupor the previous evening we had gone to the pub instead of the cash machine & spent all our money, that was our first mistake. Then we missed the minibus which went off to the border with all our rucksacks in it! We had to catch a ferry to the other side of the river into Laos were we got stuck in pandemonium trying to get our Visa on Arrival, despite the fact that our passports had already crossed the border without us the night before! Trying to get our passports back was utter chaos (we were the last people to get the visa) so by the time we boarded the slowboat we had been through a lot & were ready for another beer!

I knew we were in trouble when we were greeted onto the boat with a round of applause from our NBFs & thus began the carnage... The next 2 days past in a blur of Beer, Baguettes, Beer, Pot Noodles, Thai Whisky & more Beer. Oh & the views werent bad either! For the 2 hours a day that we weren't drunk, it was just so nice to sit & watch the landscape as the boat wound its way through the mountains. We were on the boat for 8 hours each day, with an overnight stop off in a remote village, which only had electricity for 4 hours a day, but was very accomodating to travellers giving us free Lao Lao (80% proof whisky) & introducing us to Dr O. I knew I was going to love Laos as soon as I stepped off the boat!

For now we are chilling in Luang Prabang, another beautiful French town & feasting on coffee, baguettes, red wine & cheese! Our new friends have continued to corrupt us, yesterday was spent jumping off waterfalls & drunken bowling (the bowling alley being the only place to booze after the 11pm curfew). God Knows what manner of trouble will be in store when we eventually make it to the party capital Vang Vieng, home of Happy pizzas & Tubing! If the slowboat is anything to go by its going to be lots of fun!