We stayed one night in Huay Xai (seems to be spelt differently in various places!) so we were there ready to start the Gibbon Experience early the next morning.  The town is on the Mekong, and you can see Thailand the other side of the river.  It therefore is mostly a border town, with a few hotels and restaurants, and in recent years has become the starting point for the Gibbon Experience. We had a truck ride for about 80k to take us to the outskirts of the j...

The journey to Luang Prabang was one of the worst we have had.We decided to take the mini bus, as it was quicker, but the mini bus was tiny and they crammed it full.They then kept switching off the AC and opening the front windows, which was fine for the driver and co driver in front, but not good for us on the back seat, so we had to keep complaining.We also had a family in front of us, with a 2 and 4 year old who kept being sick, so we had to keep stopping! ...

Vang Vieng is a town with a split personality. The bus ride there was great, as the scenery was so dramatic: lush trees and huge towering mountains. As we arrived at the edge of town, there was a dusty road with a few hotels and restaurants leading to town. The bus stopped at a resort we had been recommended to stay at, so we checked in. Unfortunately all of their bungalows were full, so we took a huge room in the hotel for one night and then would move to a bun...

Our journey into Laos was eventful.Our bus was late back from Halong Bay, so they sent a guy on a motorbike to meet us and walk us to a taxi, where our washing was also waiting for us!We eventually got to the sleeper bus and found we had double sleeper beds which were quite comfy.The journey was supposed to be 20 hours, but ended up being more like 22.In the morning they woke us up at the border to buy our Visa's and they tried to charge Graham a lot more than th...