The seven hour drive to Lak Sao took us through some spectacular limestone karst scenery high in the mountains. We arrived in Lak Sao (close to the Vietnam border) in time to visit the local produce market where apart from fresh fruit and veg,local specialities included rats, crickets and frogs. We can recommend stir fried cricket as a tasty snack before the meal! The local Vietnamese/English school welcomed us and we enjoyed conversing with the young stude...

On Tuesday 25th we had a 6 hour journey by local bus to the capital ofLaos,Vientiane.The bus had seen better days,but we made it to Vientiane and enjoyed the experience of travelling with the locals. Vientiane is probably the most relaxed capital city in the world. There is a strong French influence here particularly the wide boulevard,just like the Champ Elycee,which leads to Patuxai, which is similar to the Arc de Triomphe! Patuxai is known locallly as the ...

On Sunday 23rd we travelled for five hours by road across the mountains to the village of Vang Vieng. This village has become a backpackers haven situated on the Nam Song River and surrounded by spectacular limestone karst scenery. This place is wild - we went kayaking and joined hundreds of western backpackers floating in tyre tubes downstream, partying at the makeshift bars that have popped up on the river bank. There's plenty of loud music and buckets of...

Wednesday - Thursday 19th - 20th March were spent on a slow boat to Luang Prabang along the Mekong river stopping overnight in Pak Beng where electricity is supplied by generators which are only on between 18.30 & 22.30 each day! Our river trip through this pictureque and unspoilt area in Northern Laos was broken by a visit to Ban Hoi Palam, a village of the Kha Mu people. These villages are only accessible by river and the people are very poor, existing by w...

On Tuesday 18th we took the local buses to Chiang Kong on the Thai border. The journey took six hours, the last couple of hours spent on a very old bus with no air conditioning. At Chiang Kong we crossed the Mekong River into Laos, spending the night in the border town of Huay Xai. This evening we tried a Lao BBQ which comprises a clay pot full of charcoal, placed on the table, with a vessel on top in which vegetables and noodles are cooked in stock whilst the me...