Back in Bangkok, top of my to-do list was going to see the new Batman film (The Dark Knight) at the IMAX cinema so I bought the Bangkok Post to check the listings and ordered taxis with five of the other guys in my group (on a slight tangent, I love the brightly coloured taxis here - fuschia pink, orange, purple, turquoise...). However, the man at the hotel that arranged our taxis had sent us to the wrong cinema and the only thing showing in English was The Mummy...

We spent a couple of days on a slow boat travelling along the Mekong River from Luang Prabang in Laos to Huay Xai on the border with Thailand. The first night we stayed in the village of Pakbeng, where we were followed by local drug dealers trying to sell us stuff! The next night in Huay Xai we found a nice little bar with a darts board to hang out in. There was some pretty scenery along the way during the daytime. When we went to make the final river crossing at...

The journey to Luang Prabang involved more windy roads and stunning scenery. The Night Market in Luang Prabang is the nicest I've been to - it is clean and spacious, people didn't hassle me to buy or ask silly prices and, more importantly, it doesn't just sell the same old crap that can be found in every other town - it is full of beautiful and different local handicrafts. I was tempted to buy a ton of stuff but I couldn't justify carrying it around or shipping i...

Vang Vieng is known as the 'party town' of Laos and everyone I'd met that had been there told me it was very touristy so I was surprised when we arrived to find a tiny sleepy village with mostly wooden buildings, none more than two stories high, and cows/goats/chickens walking around the main street. Yes, it does cater to travellers with western food and internet cafes everywhere, but it's a far cry from Ibiza! It is so so chilled out, it's great There's a stra...

We said goodbye to five members of our group in Hanoi and met our crazy new trip leader, Kate, and seven new travellers. En route to Laos we stopped over in Vinh, which is the birthplace of Ho Chi Minh. There was nothing happening there (or not in our part of town at least) so we just had a few beers by the pool in the hotel and an early night before the next day's long journey across the Vietnam/Laos border and on to Vientiane. It was the most straightforward bo...