So after yet another 24 hour stint by coach/mini van and long tail boat Dean and I have just arrived in North Thailand’s Chiang Mai.

Our whistle stop tour through Laos was a chilled out affair that to be honest consisted of a lot of beer Lao, rope swings and a little bit of sight seeing.

We arrived in Vientiane fresh from 24 hours on a sleeper bus, thankfully our journey from Hanoi was fairly smooth despite the horror stories of 32 hour long trips and horrendous mountain roads, any way we got there in one piece.

Reaching the Capital set the tone for the rest of Laos, it was so laid back and quiet, a welcome change from the hectic motor bike infested Vietnam. Here nobody bothers you for a tuk tuk or tries to sell you toot on the street...Bliss!

We used Vientiane to chill out and recover from Vietnam, enjoying their French bakeries and bowling facilities, plus they have a nationwide 12 pm curfew so no late nights for us! It was amazing how quiet it was especially as they were hosting the South East Asia games when we arrived. We didn’t get to see any of the games live but we did see the athletes check into their hotel, and also enjoy some Asian football and interesting foot-volleyball game on the TV.

It was probably a good thing we had a few days to relax as what followed was utter carnage...For Dean at least.

This is the point were a few details will be censored for the sake of our parents embarrassment and any future employment prospects.

We took the 4 hour bus ride up to Vang Vieng where the world famous (or at least amongst travelers) Tubing is. The bus (aptly named ‘King of Bus’) actually took 7 hours as the bus broke down, we are coming to realize this is a common issue in South East Asia. After a few roadside beers and a Sangthaew (flat bed pick-up truck) turned up we were on our way.

Anywho back to tubing, Tubing consists of traveling down the fast current of the Mekong river on a rubber ring and stopping at bars dotted along the river bank to enjoy alcoholic beverages and spine shattering rope swings. As you can imagine it’s a disaster in the making, especially the thing they called 'the death slide'

Dean and his new found 'best friends' spent two days straight enjoying the river, its bars and most abundantly...the beers. I also enjoyed tubing, but broke up my two day stint with a nice relaxing day round the pool.

I should also say that Vang Vieng has amazing scenery and I took a short bike ride to capture its beauty, however I think the highlight may have been the novelty of drinking a beer whilst sat in a rubber ring. Dean saw no scenery.

Obviously following those debaucherous few days we sought solitude and respite in the old capital of Luang Prabang, 6 hours north of Vang Vieng.

Whilst there we took a 2 hour long-boat trip to some cave (bit of a disappointment plus it was freezing on the boat) and in the afternoon we visited Khong Si Waterfall which was beautiful. There was a rope swing so obviously Dean did his best George-of-the-Jungle and swung right into the freezing pool below. There was also a bear sanctuary there which was totally awesome.

Apart from eating a lot of good food and shopping at the cutest night market we didn't really do much in Luang Prabang. We decided to save ourselves for elephant training, jungle treks and tiger kingdom in Chiang Mai.

Anyway I have successfully managed to pad out 10 days worth of laying about into some sort of blog...Next time there will be lots to tell, plus we're off to Malaysian Borneo before New Year… Orangutans here we come!

Peace out, Happy Christmas.

Lots of Love

Katie and Dean

P.S.
Gary, the beard is beyond a joke; it’s two inches away from his face, plus he’s taken to conditioning it in the shower. Looking for clippers ASAP!