The last day in Luang Prabang was spent seeing some of the temples, "Wats". We also got up extremely early to see the Monks procession, where locals and tourists if they want, give offerings to the various troops of Monks. Some people in Laos join the Monks for a year or more for a good education, similar to Military service in Germany, but no guns just mediation.

Our minibus ride to Vang Vieng was 2 and a half hours longer than advertised due to the fact that the engine kept overheating so litres of water had to be added every 30kms. We travelled with a good group of people and ended up staying together and socializing in Vang Vieng. We all thought our bus was bad until we kept passing this guy and girl on a scooter. They had started 3hours before us and had paid 400,000 kip (30 pounds) for 2 new tires, a new tube and a sprocket!

So Vang Vieng is a bit like Ibiza, but down sized, with an 11.30 curfew. There are lots of bars with TV's, playing friends and family guy on repeat. Most restaurants come with their own "Happy Menu". There are loads of young tourists, all with one aim, to go tubing down the river! We spent one full day there and did the tubing. It begins with a bar in the sun on the banks of the river. There are also various swings, and zip lines at different bars. After a drink you get in your tube and float to the next bar where a young Laos lad throws you a tyre and pulls you in. This continues until you realize it's getting dark and the last section of the river is the longest. We teamed up with some girls from Holland who had done it the day before so they knew the score.

We've just arrived into Chiang Mai, Thailand after 24hours travelling and have just finished a Thai cooking course. We cooked 5 dishes each and had to eat them all, it was terrible!! The chef was great and we reckon a Come dine with me, Thai style would be in the bag!!

Tonight we get a 12hour bus to Bangkok to meet Emma and Pip and Andy and Katie.

Hope all is well with you; today we finally booked our flight to Sydney from Singapore on the 22nd November. Exciting!!