Sabai-dee from Laos!

Have moved on from islands and now in North via stop in Pakse. Pakse was our jumping off point for a tour of the Bolaven plateau, unfortunately another bout of food poisoning disrupted the plans a bit and had to reschedule, taking another couple of days in Laos but it was well worth it. We left backpacks at guesthouse and hired another motorbike for two days and 230 kilometres of awesome scenery! The destination was Tad Lo a small village set around a waterfall, stayed at a guesthouse where we ate in sight and sound of rushing water and could also swim in the pools underneath. Was pretty special sitting in a natural plunge pool beneath gallons of rushing water!

The route back the next day took us on a (literally) dirt track, pretty steep and stony at times - Greg was a pro and only told me the hairy moments after they'd passed and we were still upright! (And yes this is why we only tell you these things AFTER we've done them!). We got back on to tarmac roads and on the home straight feeling pretty pleased with ourselves only for the heavens to open and get caught in a thunder storm, literally thunder, lightening, hailstones, the works! We were short of time so had to keep going but the clouds passed and we were able to stop at a tea plantation, tea and coffee are what the Bolaven plateau is famous for. We then rode back to Pakse as the sun was setting, again pretty special!

Not so special was the night bus we then got to Vientiane, starting with the half dozen or so (ashamedly British) people whose mission was to keep the whole bus awake singing drunken songs...Two burst tyres and 8 hours later we ended up having to change bus, at 5.30am! That's Laos for you! Anyway Vientiane turned out to be a very laid back, pleasant capital city that we enjoyed for a couple of days. Not loads to do, a couple of temples and mooching around souvenir shops plus a swim at the public open air pool - we were the only white people there but it was a really nice authentic experience. In Vang Vieng now trying to dodge the drunks wandering the streets after a day boozing on the river! We've booked a river trip tomorrow, bit of tubing plus kayaking and visiting some caves, looking forward to it.

Overall Laos is definitely our favourite country so far, laid back, beautiful and genuinely friendly people without the hassling and selling so common in Vietnam and Cambodia. Apart from our current location it's also easy to avoid the typical tourist trail, we're looking forward to the rest of our week here!

(And to those worried about it we're still on budget and on time!!)

Lots of love to everyone

S&G xxxxxxxx

P.S. Photos take ages to upload in cafes, should be quicker at hostels in Thailand so put some time aside in week or so!!