Instead of opting for the standard minibus journey to Vientiane we decided to be more adventurous and 1/2 drive 1/2 kayake down the river. What could have been a really cracking day turned out to be a really low key and quite frankly quite boring day as the other people on the trip were just so quiet. After 3-4 months of travelling we are used to everyone chatting and dare I say bonding over these excursions so it was a bit of a shock to us that everyone was so q...

The journey to Vang Vieng from Luang Prabang was really enjoyable - you hug the side of the mountain all the way and see some really spectacular views. As usual it is the people you see on the way that's most interesting - it seems so weird that all the villages are built up around the main road so there are children playing, animals roaming and people just generally conducting their everday life as trucks, buses, pickups and motorbikes all go thundering past. Wh...

After many games of 'guess the time we'll arrive in Luang Prabang' we did eventually arrive to the most beautiful sunset over the most beautiful town. The Lonely Planet was way off the mark with it's room rates - in fact we spoke to one chap who had been here 4 weeks ago and was shocked at how much the prices had increased! Luang Prabang is bordered on both sides by rivers - the Mekong and the Nam Khan - and it's so picturesque! It has quaint buildings from its ...

Our Mekong river trip started in Chiang Mai with a 5.5 hour journey by minibus to Chiang Khong - the scenery en route was amazing and different to what we've seen elsewhere in Thailand - much greener and more mountainous. We stopped in Chiang Rai at a local market to stretch our legs which was quite amusing as an old man came over laughing hysterically and babbling on to us in Thai - David's face was a picture as he kept grabbing his arm - he was eventually calle...

It is amazing how fate works... Having changed our plans and came back to Bangkok early it turned out that we were here at the same time as Nicole and Andre! After a few e-mails it was agreed that we would celebrate new years eve together - well it's much better to enjoy the festivities with familiar faces! Then yesterday, as we were walking down the street trying to sort out how we were going to get to Laos, we heard someone shouting hello to us - it turned ou...