Laos...or should I say Lazy Laos, what an amazing country with so much to offer and yet so untouched from the western world...this is definately the side of south east asia I came away to see. Vientianne (The capital of Laos) is the quietest capital Ive ever seen, I think in rush hour (5pm) I counted about 10 cars on the road and as far as sight seeing goes their wasnt much in the way of choice mind it served it purpose for me to relax for a few days and de-stress myself from Vietnam. I have one moan on my first night here I checked into the nearest dormitory hostel (remember I had just had the long journey from Hanoi) well the next morning I woke with hundreds of spots all over my body, bloody hell Im thinking the mosquitos had a field day with me last night....to be later told by another traveller they were bed bug bites...well straight out of that dive of a hostel and checked into a better one where I met G and Chris who I was then to travel with for the next 2weeks...Hi guys if you read this and thanks for all the laughs! Vang Vieng was next on my agenda after hearing so many good reports from other travellers I couldnt wait to experince it for myself...Vang Vieng is such an amazing beautiful place, so laid back by the river and surrounded by mountains...ideal for relaxing! Not that I did much of that! Vang Vieng is well known for the 'tubing'..okay let me explain...Tubing is where you sit inside a inner tube from a tractor tyre and float down the river, on the banks of the river are several bars with people shouting "beerlao, beerlao" and they then pull you in with a bamboo stick to drink and go on the many swings into the river. The whole thing should take 2-3 hrs they told us and make sure we're back before dark...well seeing we set off at 11.30am no problem I thought! Those that know me really well or to be honest if you know me at all you can probably guess who was the last one on the river come dark? yes you guessed it...lets just say I indulged too much on the second bar (which had a couple of excellent swings) and stayed there for 4hrs...whoops! G and Chris left me too it and headed back as I had joined drinking forces with Joe (IRISH LAD NEED I SAY ANYMORE?) and there was no way I was leaving quite so soon. All in all it was a good day and excellent experience, finished off nicely by a happy ice-cream...or was that a "very happy" ice-cream..I wont learn but thats another story that I dont want to going into on here! I also taught english at the local monustary in Vang Vieng which was a good experience. It was to the local street children and monks....jesus were the monks naughty, throwing things across the room/talking ect! This was a funny experience as the head monk (dont know what there called) introduced me to a class of about 20 under 11's then just walked out and left me to it, not knowing their level of english or what I was to teach them....boy I must of sweated about a stone stood in front of the class...but with a little imagination I wangled my way through the hour..THEN he did it again with a class of 11-17yr olds (after I asked him to stay and that I would just support him) this time is was more difficult but managed with a bit of cheek from them to get through the next hour and one of the monks gave me a can of coke at the end....bless him! Later that night me/G and chris were taken to the local village party with singing, loas dancing and games of Rattan (Laos sport) where I saw a few of the monks who said "Hi Sir"...me Sir..I had to laugh, I felt like a teacher! Luang Prabang as our next destination, and what a shock it was its so much busier than anywhere else in Laos, though nice and quaint! The highlight here for me was meeting up with Maria's friends Melvyn and Ann and getting some posh toothpaste from home..I was getting fed up with cheap local stuff! It was really nice to see a friendly face from home also and if you read this both of you thank you for the great night out though I was not so appreciative the next morning when after 4hrs sleep and severe hangover I had to board a boat to Pak Beng...oh the fun, thanks all the same! What else happened in Luang Prabang...well you can get a plate of vegetarian food on the night market for 5000kip (about 30p) which was delicious and where we ate every night! Oh nearly forgot G's stripping moment outside the temple and infornt of the monks...let me explain. G, Chris and I were heading up to the highest point (a temple) of Luang Prabang to see sun set when G needed to change her skirt to put her sarong on to dress correctly for the temple well she gave me a corner of her sarong and said pull..so what do I do but give a big pull and poor G shows alot more flesh than a lady should outdoors and with on lookers too...all me and chris could do was fall around laughing..soo funny! and to think they still let here in :-) G when you read this keep covered up love! Pak Beng...this town was just a stop village for one night en-route to Luang Nam Tha...Pak Beng was one step away from a bandits town, there were kids selling drugs everwhere I suppose due to the mountainous location and no police they can get away with it! Me and G (chirs had left us to go elsewhere for a few days) checked into one of the cheapest dive's around which was rat infested...well G experinced that whilst I was away for the night by the river drinking with the local gay lads...poor G I deserted her in her hour of need.....all we could sing from then on is "there's a rat in my bedroom what am I gonna do" you know the one! So after about 5hrs sleep in 2days Im off again in the back of a pickup to Laung Nam Tha...and what a journey that was...several hours with an old local woman coughing and spitting up everywhere all the journey (some of it one me also) I was not happy and if it could get worse it did cos then several kids being sick followed...Im not suprised I got really bad flu again for the second time in as many months...Im sure most of these locals have bird flu with the way they cough and spit up all kinds.....! Luang Nam Tha was excellent well apart from the sub zero tempatures in the night/morning (which isnt good with flu)...The group decided a trek was in order here and off we trot for 2days into the Laos jungle...what an experience and alot better than my thaialnd one, I really really enjoyed it even though I was dying most fo the time! We Ate with our hands (Laos style)...and stayed in a Laos village which was so traditional/rural and untouched from tourism...such a good experience! The village people were the friendlest Ive ever met and loved having their photos taken...we ate with the village chief in the evening and asked him questions then he in turn asked us all about our lives back home....nearing the end one of my questiosn was can we go and sit with the village people who were sat around the many fires (keeping warm it was freezing) and socialise with them...if you could picture it our trekking group (6) and about 50 village people sat around a fire (sharing with pigs/dogs) drinking beerlao/lao-lao (lethal whisky) and singing in the dark with hundreds of stars in the sky it was magical...I had the village laughing/singing and then we all ate baked potato...what a night to remember! Laos is such a warm/inviting country and the people are some of the friendliest Ive ever met....Im thinking this was probably thailand/vietnam before tourism took a hold, I just hope Laos keeps some of the charms that have made me enjoy every minute....! A trip back to Loas is definately on the cards sometime in the future thats a definate! But for now the journey continues and it over to Thailand and India for the littlest Hobo (me)...oh just one thing Ive got no music on my ipod again a computer deleted all my songs that twice noe...but after my travels in asia and my way of thinking is oh well these things happen Im not gonna get annoyed like last time! Im not gonna bother taking it to India with me, its just one more expensive thing I have to keep my eye on....! Oh forgot to say I pulled a Loas lad but nothing to write home about so hence didnt write ;-) Adios friends...love you all. G x