Date: 22nd May 2011 Place: On a bus but eventually Vang Vieng, Laos Weather: super super hot and sunny I managed to get a little bit of sleep before being taken into a shop where they would sort out our Laos Visas and then gave us our 'VIP' breakfast of a ham and egg toastie with a fly on the side. Thai and Laos people really know how to do things slowly. We were in the Visa place for about an hour and a half and then we took a 2 minute journey down the road to the border crossing where we had to get off to depart from Thailand and then get back on the bus, and then get off again to get into Laos. It was such a mission. It wasn't over yet though. When we crossed the border we were put on a Tuk Tuk and taken to a travel shop where we had to wait for about another hour. Then we were put onto a minibus and taken to a coach where we had to wait some more for everyone to show up. I think we eventually got going about 4 hours after we got off the first minibus. And the new coach was packed full and hot! This journey thankfully had a film to watch though; 2012. It was nice to have a distraction from the roads and the way they drive out here. I was heading to Vang Vieng to go Tubing, during which many people die each year, but I thought I was going to die even before I got there. We finally did arrive though and we were next to some random hotel just on the outside of town. We decided to walk it into the centre, by the time we got there we were dripping with sweat. After eventually finding a decent enough Guesthouse, and drawing out 1,000,000kip (I felt like a millionaire) from the cashpoint, then explored a bit of the town, and what a weird little town it is!
The main stretch of road is dotted with bars packed with sun burnt Westerners lounging on bamboo beds and glued to TV's playing Friends! As much as I enjoy catching an episode or 2 of Friends every so often, the novelty of it wears off after you've watched 6 consecutive episodes and realized that not only have you lost all ability to feel in your legs but your bum has permanently welded itself to the seat.

Me and Siobhan were feeling a bit sick, we thought it was travel sickness but it turned out we all had a bit of a bad feeling for a few days afterwards. Later on in the evening we went to see what night life vang vieng had to offer, it was not what I was expecting of Vang Vieng night life though and it was dead. We thought maybe everyone had crashed out from tubing. Date: 23rd May 2011 Place: Vang Vieng Weather: so so so hot After that bus journey we couldn't handle tubing on the first day. We decided a pool day was in order and we had heard about one we could use at a hotel just up the road. After the girls had breakfast at Central Backpackers we went up there and got some sunbeds looking out over the river and towards the mountains. It was really nice, like on a private balcony. We met a guy called Gav who was sunbathing near us and he was telling us a bit about tubing and how a guy had died on the slide just 4 days ago :-0 We all then made a mental note to ourselves: no swing, no slide! We stayed at the pool allll day. When we finally left I felt super drained and needed to eat really bad, so that night we went to an Irish bar that served proper western food. I had Chicken and mushroom pie with real chips which was gorgeous…but I threw up afterwards, I clearly still wasn't 100% better. Date: 24th May 2011 Place: Vang Vieng Weather: raining in the morning, brightened up later Tubinggg!!!! Today was the day we had been waiting for because it was so famous amongst backpackers. If you're not glued to a TV then you're more than likely to be floating down the river on a tube (rubber ring) getting completely wrecked on Lao buckets or Tiger whisky shots.My problem was I still felt sick. Not a good way to be when you are going out partying all day. I knew it was all down hill from the moment I ordered breakfast and it came with a free whisky shot! We went around town then looking for a bus to 4000 Islands and then we wanted to get tubing tops and waterproof purses to wear that day. I still didn't feel right but I didn't want it to stop me going tubing though because I would never have another chance to go so I powered through it. .Everyone starts off at Q-Bar where we got a band which meant we could get free whisky shots (unlimited) We bumped into Gav who was with Nav, Yanak and Colette so we sat with them and had a drink whilst we watched everyone doing the limbo, whisky line up and beer pong. We had the option of swimming to the next bar or going by land. We chose land. I didn't want to die!! The rest of the day was filled with a lot of starch being chucked about to stop the mossies attacking, after jumping into the river which was the most disgusting thing I have ever swam in(nicknamed river aids/death river), and dancing lots J. We finished off the night dancing in a circle with a load of strangers singing on the top of our lungs "Hey Jude" We had said that we would meet some of the people we met that day at a place next door to Q-bar (the one based in town) at 10pm but I fell asleep for ages and then I couldn't be bothered to go out when I woke up. Date: 25th May 2011 Place: Vang Vieng Weather: Raining We were leaving Vang Vieng today to go to 4000 Islands. The bus was at 1pm so we decided to head to the pool for the morning. I think we were a bit optimistic with the weather though because we were lying on the sunbeds in our bikinis watching a load of storm clouds come together. It did start to rain but we just went in the pool and did some lengths; we were wet anyway so it didn't matter J When we got back Siobhan was up so we went and grabbed some lunch. We got jacket potatoes which didn't turn out to be normal jacket potatoes and lucky me got a fly mixed in with my Tuna on it! Yummy!! We got on a minibus first which was taking us to the bus station. I don't think the wait was too long when we got to the station but it seems like such a long time ago that I cant remember. We did have two seats each at first but then a load of Lao people got on and took up the seats. It was only a four hour bus journey though which wasn't too bad No film this time though. When we got dropped off we were at the main bus station and it turned out we had to wait there for a few hours. I finally had no appetite whilst travelling which was so weird! Turned out I was ill still. There were three Irish girls sitting near us who were getting on the same bus so we started talking to them. We finally completed the set of the UK! Siobhan is Scottish, me Welsh, Lucy English and now we had our Irish! They all knew each other from home and were travelling together; finishing in Oz where they would work for a year in Darwin. We went out at 7pm when the bus was supposed to be leaving. The bus that was closest to the number on our ticket looked lush and I got all excited thinking that's the one we were getting on. Turned out it wasn't and they pointed out that ours was still being prepared. I think we waited another hour before we got on the bus but thankfully it turned out to be just as nice as the other one. We had finally found an actual VIP bus! It had beds for seats, even though they were pretty much the size of a single but two people had to share, and it had a pretty decent toilet too! A western one. I was so glad that I wasn't travelling alone on this sort of bus though because sharing one of those beds with a complete stranger would be a bit strange. When we set off they bought us round dinner which was a little bit of rice and chillis, and water. I ate the rice even though I wasn't hungry and instantly felt sick so had to lie down. Thankfully they turned the lights out then so I just put my ipod in and went to sleep. It was a bit of a rough night because the bus was really rocky and I didn't have much room to move. I had a stomach ache all night as well which didn't help when trying to sleep. I think I got a fare amount though, more than on a normal bus. Date: 26th May 2011 Place: 4000 Islands Weather: really hot again, the sun has finally returned! We got woken up pretty suddenly and instantly had people asking us where we were going next, even whilst I was still lying in bed! I told them that if they wanted to get off the bus alive they had better not mention anything about tickets again!!lol We then got on a minibus which we thought was taking us to a ferry to get to the islands. We were wrong. It took ages to get to where we were going and I swear the bus driver had no idea where he was going. He kept stopping to have a wee and wash his face as well. Everybody on the crappy minibus was no happy! When we finally got to the water it turned out the boat journey was literally 5 minutes, probably less. The challenge was then finding a decent place to stay. We went to the first spot and it was a bit grubby without even a private bathroom. After walking around in the heat with our backpacks we all got a bit ratty. We decided to leave our bags in a restaurant with a few people whilst the others went to look for places. After a short walk me and sarah found some cute bungalows, with en suites and hammocks on the balconys, for around£1.00 a night, perfect! We dumped our stuff quickly and went out to explore what 4000 Islands had to offer….NOTHING!! It wasn't really what I was expecting. There was a lot more civilisation on it and it wasn't as pretty as I imagined. We all thought the same so decided we would get the bus out the next morning. The walk wasn't a long one because there wasn't much to see. We went back to the bungalows and chilled out for a while.We went out for a fairly early for dinner but first went to book our bus tickets. Dinner was in a really nice place, it was just a shame about the people serving us because they had no enthusiasm at all. I finally had an appetite back and my stomach wasn't hurting so I was really excited to get a full meal in me. I ordered a cheese burger with chips and it was sooo tasty. I was so hungry…..but again was sick afterwards, such a waste! When we had finished dinner we were sat around chatting and a group of lads came and asked to sit next to us. They invited us to go to the beach with them all but I just wasn't really feeling it that night. Instead I went back early again.