We hung out for awhile with Lara and caught up on the last couple months then met up with friends, Josh and Claire who just happened to be travelling in Laos at the same time, for dinner. It was great seeing some faces from home. Ryan then finally arrived by land from Bangkok the following day.

We finally got all our sight-seeing done in Vientiane. There's not much to say about capital city really. It's extremely small and sits on the Mekong River. There were a few interesting sights including Buddha park which I had been eager to see for quite some time. It was a pretty funky place that we can best describe as a cross between a cemetery and an outdoor art exhibit with a very religious theme and more than a dash of lunacy.

But once again we were ready to leave the city, so this time we made sure to catch a bus- no more songthaews for us!! The bus to Vang Vieng was really uncomfortable, rickety and old. Needless to say we weren't too happy when we finally arrived- such is transportation in the developing world. Our English friends were still there when we got back so we hung out with them a bit. We took in the most important of the tourist attractions in VV. We floated down the Nam Song River (for the second time…cuz apparently once just wasn't enough) on large inner-tubes. It took a total of 3 hours this time (the last time took us 4) thanks to the fact that Ryan got bored and hungry, and ended up pulling us a lot of the way!! The first two hours were wonderful as we passed under the stunning limestone mountains that surround Vang Vieng. But after that it becomes tedious and long, involving quite a bit of paddling in still water --thanks Ryan, you rock!

The town is a little reminiscent of Khao San Rd in Bangkok because it appears to be solely in existence for the falang (foreigners in Lao). Though it is quite relaxing, there's no way this is the real Laos experience.

We've been suffering through a good deal of Laos thanks to the fact that we're here at the hottest time of year. On average it's been 37c or more every day. Thanks to the slash and burn agriculture, which seems to play such a prominent role in April in Laos, we've also been rewarded with fabulous views of smoky clouds, burning forests and barren fields -- not to mention nagging coughs.

We've floated for long enough and the Laos New Year is upon, so up to Luang Prabang we go!