Dear All! Well...........has been a long old week since my last update........arrived in Laos 9 days ago, and it has certainly been eventful! Firstly, i must explain, Laos is North of Thailand, with a relatively small population in comparison to most other countries this size. Arriving in Laos after the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and Thailand was like settling into a comfy chair after running the marathon! Initial impressions were 'wow'....beautiful mountain scenery at every angle, green lush views from every window, and utter poverty in all directions! Our first night in Laos, after an 8 hour slow boat journey (interesting to say the least, over 120 of us crammed on a boat meant for 80........but met loads of people, you cant help but meet people when you sitting in their armpit for 8 hours!!!), saw us pull up in a village called Pakbong. Tiny, wooden shacks, dusty streets, and family homes opening their doors to welcome us in for drinks, places to stay and generally the friendliest locals i am yet to meet. All the Laos people are so happy, content, and have beaming contagious smiles across their faces........as they utter "Sawadee" (Hello) to every single one of us with such enthusiasm. I know they want our custom, but i am happy to give it when you see the effort they give on the customer service side of things- us Brits could learn a lot from these peopleha! After a night in a very basic....and very haunted guesthouse....will save that story for when i get home.......we headed down stream......again.....on a 9 hour slow boat....even slower, smaller, and busier than the previous........again, got to smile at these things.......we arrived in Luang Prabang. Stunning....an incredible collection of Buddist and French architecture clustered together on a small riverine around the Mekong, and surrounded by mountains......as is most of Laos...........our planned 2 night stay, turned into 4....we loved it. Was so chilled, yet had some fantastic night spots and great food......although as youve probably guessed, internet and telephone access here is pretty much....NONE!! ha. If you do manage to find a phone that will call England....costs a ridiculous amount....and internet is just few and far between.....but that is part of what makes here so lovely....that it hasnt been hit my the tourism bug that Thailand has. First negative though........last Monday i had my camera stolen. Gutted. Not a happy bunny, luckily still with the group and Alan has most of my recent pics on his lap top....however.....pics may be a bit sparse for the near future until i purchase a new camera......going to try and hold out until a big city, as the price for things like cameras are triple in Laos what they would be in Bangkok......couldnt have happened in a worst place! Nevermind, reported it to the police, along with 2 girls who had the same thing happen, so not much more i can do. However, we did go Tubing along the Mekong River......so much fun...floating down the river current in, what can only be described as a car tyre, no matter how well us girls tried to be dignified, we failed miserably, and spent most of the river journey either in the water or struggling to get back in our tyres....ha ha After over staying our visit here, we packed up and got a mini bus to the Kuang Si Falls, we were only going to stay for the afternoon, but found the most delightful guesthouse.....on the waterfall....literally....so we packed up our lives (which i am getting quite good at doing....this living out of a bag is pretty easy when you get used to it!!! ha) and had the most glorious night, the seven of us, in the waterfall house of one of the local village families. They made us a fantastic dinner, and breakfast, and we were well looked after by them....in fact i dont think it was a guesthouse as we appeared to be sleeping in what could have been the kids bedrooms.......ha! Early start the next morning, onto Vang Vieng......well.......not such a pleasant suprise here......in fact it is up there with the worst town i have EVER been to. It was way to touristy, and a very dodgy....first time ive not felt safe to walk around somewhere on my own. The town consists of just the one road, which is aptly named the Koh San Road...after the awful tourist street in Bangkok! It is full of neon lights, restaurants offering the same poor attempt at western foods, and a lot of drugs. There are warnings in every book ive read on Laos about coming here, but it was not an option as to get to the capital of Vientiane you have to come here to change buses etc. The stay started off badly, when James fell over in his bathroom as the floors are all slippery tiles, and split his head in two, so we spent a few hours at the local hospital.......well wooden shack...........that evening just got worse as we went out for dinner, where four of the seven of us all managed to get our drinks (non-alchoholic i might add!!!) spiked..........not good. All spent the last three days in our guest house as we were hallucinating and generally not aware of what was going on, so slept it off and feel a million times better today. However Michelle, other English girl, was in such a state she has gone back to England. Have reported it to local police here....but to be honest think they are all in on it anyway.Vang Vieng........dont go there even if someone pays you!!! But now........we have reached the capital- Vientiane. Its lovely. Not the hustle of a normal capital, just a relaxed town on the river, with lots more facilities, and again fantastic scenery........but with no camera at the mo, you'll just have to take my word for it! From here........who knows!!? Ha. This is the part of my trip where Stephen leaves me :-( Unfortunately he is heading South to meet his Mum in a couple of weeks, and Elisa is going there too for the last few weeks of her holiday, they plan to do a couple of different islands....and although i am nearer to Vietnam etc here, im tempted to do some more of the islands with them, and then head back up here at a later date????!!! Am going to make my decision tonight. Ive got time on my hands and could easily do the islands before, but i may just head off on my own, finish Laos and cross into Vietnam in April. Who knows?? I will keep you all updated. Anyway, hope you are all well, still missing you lots, and am treating myself to a french manicure on my new long nails this evening as i have been away from home for over 2 months and am still enjoying it.....think that deserves some self rewarding- ha ha!! Keep the emails coming, and i will be in touch soon Lots of love me xxx