Hello everyone! We've had a really busy time since our last update, most of it with no internet access so sadly couldn't update y'all.

We set off on our journey to Lao Bao, the border between Vietnam and Laos on the 25th. As the journey took so long it was meant to include an overnight stay in Hue, but because we didn't book some trips through our hotel at Hoi An they were sneaky and didn't tell us we had to actually find our own hotel in Hue. We ended up just going to the nearest place. The next day we continued to the border in a Ford Transit van, designed to fit 15 people. After lots of squishing there were eventually 25 people and their luggage. Oh, and a baby. And a dog... Luckily the border crossing was simple, unlike the Thai/Cambodian one which was a relief! Nevertheless, our good furtune did not hold. We luckily got a bus to Savannakhet, the other side of Laos. There our luck ended. When the bus pulled up it was at a 45 degree angle, driving on 3 wheels and looked to have drugs stashed on the roof from Vietnam.. things got worse when we got inside. There were NO seats left so while me and Will got the comfy sacks with god knows what in, along the aisle, Jo and Jess were hanging out of the door. You may complain that we were cruel and didn't give the girls safe seats, but at least they got air-con!

After spending a night in Savannakhet (and watching a woman spend an hour at the cash machine withdrawing money (I'm sure there was something dodgy going on there!)) we traveled to Pakse where the bus was only marginally better. Here we spent two nights. During our only full day, we hired a guy to take us round some local tourist hotspots. These included Waterfalls, Coffee and Tea plantations and a typical local village. I should note that when we got to this particular village we all became uneasy. While there were lots of tourists at the other places, this was devoid of tourists, but was instead full of half naked children and lots of piglets. We also thought that we had been sold off by our guides and were on that nights food menu. Yummy. Having made it out safely we visited one final waterfall, where we got the chance to jump from rock to rock, slide down rocks and in my (warren) case, drown my camera.. (just to reasure the parents, it works fine now and I have all of my pictures so don't panic lol).

The next day we traveled further south to 'four thousand islands', known by the locals as Si Phan Don. They consist of lots and lots of islands along the Mekong river. Our hotel was much better than I was expecting, especially in an area which had only just got electricity. The only real problem was the number of ants around and for Jo, the big spider in the bathroom! During our only full day there we hired two double kayaks and paddled from island to island where me and Will took this chance to wear our tank tops for the first time! It was very hot so we retreated to the shade on one of the islands and got laughed at by some passing locals, who obviously had never seen a typical British picnic before! On the way back to the island where we were staying, the girls got stuck on the rocks several times and Jess fell in the water. Twice.lol. Luckily all our passports and money were on the boys kayak which stayed dry or we would have been stuck!!

After a long wait for our bus (an hour and a half) the next day we began our marathon journey (which would take nearly 24 hours) to get to Bangkok. It involved getting a a boat, then a bus from four thousand islands to pakse, where we then changed and got a bus accross the border to Ubon and then a train (exciting, as it was our first over-night train experience). Our excitment soon wiltered away as there was no air-con and for me and Will, the beds were really small. Nevertheless we arrived in Bangkok this morning and have sorted a trip out for the next 3 days which we will tell you about soon :)

Lots of Love,

Jo, Jess, Will and Ted

p.s. Just to answer all those questions of 'How did Ted nearly break Jo's thumb?' I'd juuust like to point out that it was really a joint effort... Jo pinched my leg and I flinched which meant I kicked her thumb. It's almost in good working order now so all is good!