yes yes i am still alive! i have been so rubbish at updating this, but its only because iv been having so much fun :)

so where do i begin? since my last entry iv travelled up through laos, down through thailand and arrived yesterday in malaysia. it has been the best time of my life. so i will give you all a very brief rundown of what iv been up to ... its not long til yous can talk to me about it in person!

laos was the most peaceful and laid back place i have ever been too. i crossed the border from cambodia with a german girl i met while volunteering at the orphanage. from there we went to a place called don det. we had to take a 'boat' (filled up with water and rocked everywhere about to capsise!) there where we found a nice little wooden hut to stay in. don det was a different world. there was only electricity between 6.30pm and 10pm each day and the bathroom was outside among the jungle where you washed out a big jungle book style bowl. i loved it! we went cycling around the area to a waterfall and generally relaxed in this quiet little place. as well as don det we went to savannakhet, ventiene, vang veing and luang prabang. laos isnt huge on things to see and do, its the being there and experiencing the way of life that is the attraction. although i did manage to squeeze in a day of tubing in vang veing which is floating down the river in rubber rings and stopping off at little bars along the way where you can swing rope in and such things. was soooo much fun! not at all safe though, the river was really shallow and i hit my stomach and leg on really big sharp rocks which hurt a lot :( was worth it though. luang prabang was a beautiful city. so sunny and calm with beautiful buildings and the best street food iv ever had :D

from laos i crossed the border into thailand by bus. it was meant to be a tourist sleeper bus but ended up that one was broken and so it was a rickety local bus instead. i love surprises like that! haha. it was a long 12 hour journey with no sleep but i made it. on the bus i met two mad swedish guys who were the best fun ever and i really enjoyed my time in chiang mai with them. i also met a group of thai people who very kindly offered to give us a free life from the thai border to chiang mai! 5 hours in the back of their pick up truck in the beautiful sunshine not costing a penny - loved it! and my mum knows i wouldnt have taken the lift if i had been on my own, she already checked that with me! but come on, back home id never be able to sit in the back of a pick up - the police would be on it! haha. chiang mai is a beautiful place. its big enough to have lots going on, but not so big that its overwhelming. it doesnt feel like a huge city at all. here i went to an elephant sanctuary that rescues elephants from circuses and abuse. in thailand people use them for street begging and make them dance and paint, and to train them to do this they abuse them in the worst possible ways. the sanctuary is huge and so the elephants have so much space just like in the wild, and their medical needs can be seen to. they are such clever and magnificent animals. i got to feed them and go in the river to bath them :) it was the best experience ever and there were tiny little babies there too running around. you have to be careful not to go too close though as the adults are very protective of them and will come charging over ready to squish you! from chiang mai i took the night train to bangkok where i spent a couple of days crusing the markets and looking at clothes i couldnt afford! went out at night and it was quite terrifying some of the people that were going around ... haha. from bangkok i took another night train and then a bus to krabi in the south. it was so nice to be by the beach with nothing to do but soak up the sun. i did however lose my camera just to add a little stress so had to go buy a new one ... thank goodness for credit cards! haha. then from krabi i headed to koh phi phi which was the highlight. it was my paradise and i feel very sad to not be there anymore (stupid 15 day thai visa!) it was just breathtaking. iv never seen such beautiful beaches in my life. met some wonderful people here and had a blast dancing on the beach at night time. i did a boat trip one of the days to do something productive which took us around the surrounding beaches, including maya bay where they filmed the movie the beach. it was a great trip except on the way back the weather turned really bad and the sea got really angry - we were in a little wooden longtail boat that got thrown around everywhere and there were times we were airborne! haha. everyone was screaming with the fear we were going to capsise! eeeek! but we got back to dry land in almost one piece apart from mental scarring. i was tempted to overstay my visa here and i almost wish i did ... would have only been fined 10 pounds a day! maybe il move there ... hmmm.

and now i am in georgetown in penang, malaysia. i arrived last night after a 12 hour journey. it was dark so couldnt get a feel for it, but my brief walk to the atm was enough to convince me i need to watch myself! it is much better by daylight though. its a lovely town, the buildings are ancient with so many different cultures all in one place. it has a nice feel to it. will stay here a couple of days before heading to the cameron highlands. iv heard there are nice beaches here so will need to locate them.

anyway sorry for the delay in replies and no caroline im not dead so its ok :) i will try and update again while im away, but if not im only away for another 5 weeks (booooo!) so will be able to catch up with everyone then which im really looking forward to as missing you all so much!

hope all is well back home. iv heard the weather is a bit pants - hahahahahahaha. il just go off into the heat now.

love and hugs
erika
xxxx