Vang Vieng Tim and I took a bus from Nong Khiaw to Vang Vieng. We were loaded into a mini van full of local villagers, and sacks of rice, fruit and vegetables. We then drove a few minutes out of the town before stopping at an old American Opium Control Office (cue films such as Buffalo Soldiers and American Gangster!!) where a passenger left the van, went in and did not return for around half an hour. Unlike in England, the mini bus waited, and we almost suffoca...

Nong Khiaw Tim and I took a mini van from Luang Prabang up into the hills to Nong Khiaw to enjoy a flavour of more rural Laos, and to attempt to gain more of an insight into traditional Laos life rather than what is laid on for tourists. We ventured high up into the mountains on a scorching day. The journey was absolutely stunning, as we wove our way up. The scenery was some of the best I had seen since Malaysia, as the mountains were so lush and dramatic. The...

Luang Prabang The evening that we arrived we decided to not look for too long to get a guest house and just got one that we could have a good night rest and was cheap. The place that we ended up staying was a little too far out of town for us, so after a shower and a rest we walked into town and looked for a better place to stay and after an hour of looking we found one that we could afford and was in a really nice old part of the main town near to the night mar...

Slow boat into Laos and Luang Prabang So it is our last day in Thailand and we have to get out because or visas run out in a day, we had arranged to take the slow boat trip from Thailand into Laos and to do this we were first picked up my minivan in Chang Mai and driven for a day to the border town of Chiang Khong. The dive was not too bad and the van ok to, it was a good way to get to know some more people that were doing the boat trip with us. One we arrived...