Headed off in the minibus for Vientiane this morning More amazing scenery along the way yet quite different to yesterday Lots of villages and now we have just passed through a quite industrial area near Vientiane with factories for cement, making shoes etc. Also I think we have left the poorer areas of the country as there are some mansions along the road here.and the land has flattened out now compared to the last few days. Vientiane is quite city like of cou...

Full day in Van Vieng today Virginia and Josh had a massage (not all that good compared to Thailand) then headed off on a pm tour to the caves and swimming hole by tuk tuk with the rest of the group (except Martin who went exploring on a bike which he changed for a motor bike when he got a flat tire and then went tubing in the river) Alan stayed at the guesthouse and caught up on some Cuban Adventures and Please Yourself Travel work - have a couple of PYT jobs ...

Up at 5 this morning in Luang Prabang to walk down the street to participate in the monks gathering alms parade At 6am monks from all the temples walk through the streets and people give them food - we gave a small portion of sticky rice to about 20 monks Great breakfast at a local cafe then on a minibus for the 8 hour scenic, rough and mountainous drive to Van Vieng Well we all know Thailand is a great country with stunning scenery but Laos is something else....

Yes this morning was very slow for everyone especially the table soccer players. Still it is a free day and we need it! Didn't wake up till 9.30am, tossed down a bit of breakfast then back to bed till 11 The 3 of us headed up the street about 12 for brunch at a great "Western" ( in the best sense) cafe bakery which had very good gourmet sandwiches , wraps etc and good coffee and fruit shakes Much needed....... Then back to the guesthouse to do nothing for the...

This morning we went on a guided tour of the town visiting a temple (yes another one), the day market along with its sun dried rats, giant catfish, live baby crabs and dead beetles all local delicacies but not for us. Walked along the Mekong to more street stalls then down a quaint paved street which shows what UNESCO World Heritage $ can achieve for a town and visited the former Royal Silversmith (Lao is a democratic republic now and not a kingdom so no king unl...