Hey there,

Sorry its been so long since we last updated our blog...we hope your sitting comfortably because this could be a long one!!!

So we flew to Chiang Mai and found the same lovely guesthouse that Karen stayed in a couple of years ago! The next day we set off on a 2 day trek up into the hills, it started off with a visit to an orchid farm and then an elephant ride, which was a little scary as we seemed to be given the biggest elephant to ride!! After a quick lunch we headed up into the hills, just a 3 hour uphill walk...it nearly killed us as it was stupidly hot and humid but thankfully we got to stop off at a very refreshing waterfall en route! It was totally worth it thought because from the village the views were amazing!Up in the village we rewarded ourselves with beer, a cold shower and a thai massage, all followed by a great dinner and songs around the campfire, theres nothing quite like a young thai guy singing his heart out ronan keating style!!! Next morning we had to get back down the big hill which was equally as hard as coming up and we both managed to fall over, no injuries though! After another waterfall we trekked on a little further before going white water rafting followed by bamboo rafting! As its not the rainy season though, it was more gentle rapids than white water but fun all the same, karen managed to fall out the boat and jess nearly cried when she saw a water snake!!The bamboo rafting was a little more relaxed and once on dry land had another lunch of pad thai and then back to chiang mai in the back of the truck! a very good trek.

We took the next day off to recover and went to the sunday night markets and followed up with a cookery course on monday! We had a tour of the markets first and then the gardens where a lot of the ingredients are grown and then we got stuck in! We got to eat everything we made and had so much we took some home for dinner...we now consider ourselves world class thai chefs!!!

Next morning we set off for the Laos border and by the evening had adopted an irish girl, Ash and were ready for the slow boat. We spent the next 2 days crusing down the Mekong River, stopping overnight in Pak Beng and arriving in Luang Prabang on Thursday. Here we cycled around the temples and went out to an amazing waterfall for the afternoon as well as checking out some of the local bars and the bowling alley!! Sunday morning we headed south towards Vang Vieng, the scenery en route was absolutely amazing although the roads were really bendy and we may have regretted the beers we had the night before!!!We took local buses around Laos which made for interesting journeys, on this bus jess spent some time sat next to a man with a chicken!

Vang Vieng is all about tubing so thats what we did! Basically you hire a great big rubber ring and go out to the Mekong River, hop in and float down stream! Very scenic you'd think but on the river banks are numerous bars made of bamboo, which you get dragged into via a rope and are forced to drink the local whiskey and then have a go on the rope swing landing you back in the river and ready to drift on to the next stop!!! Lots of fun!!

From Vang Vieng we went onto Vientianne, the country's capital...not that exciting though! We explored some temples and then went swimming. Another bus ride and we were in Savannaket, pretty much only a dinosaur museum here and mama's house where we had a great meal cooked by mama at her house!

Pakse was next. From here we took a day tour out onto the Bolaven Plateau, we visited a tea and coffee plantation, 4 pretty waterfalls and also a village where the people make their own coffins before death and keep them under their houses ready for the big day!

From Pakse we took a minibus and then a very small boat to 4000 islands which is pretty much on the Laos-Cambodian border. We stayed in a bamboo hut on the river on Don Det island. We had a bed, a mossie net and 2 hammocks...what more could we need! We spent a fair bit of time relaxing here but we did hire bikes with some other girls we met, including Katy who we later adopted, and went to see the rare Irrawady dolphins. We were literally dumped on a rock in the middle of the river in midday heat to spot them and thankfully we did!!! The island was also covered with HUGE water buffalo left to roam freely, which is fine...until nightfall!! We had a close encounter when it was pitch black and we very nearly walked right into one that was just standing in the middle of the very narrow path!!!!

We crossed over into Cambodia with Katy last week and headed staright upto Siem Reap although did have to spend a night in Phnom Penh. Near to Siem Reap are the infamous Temples of Angkor and they were simply amazing! We spent 2 days exploring lots of temples and watched the sunrise over the Temple of Angkor and even visited the temple from Tomb Raider!No Angelina though!!! From here we took an overnight bus down to Sihanoukville on the coast! We spent 3 days just relaxing on the beach sipping cocktails. Karen also spent one day diving and saw some beautiful coral and massive fish.

We arrived in Phnom Penh 2 days ago and yesterday we did a bit of sight seeing. We visited the genocide museum and then the killing fields, quite depressing but very interesting and it is a huge part of the history here. Today we will visit the Grand Palace and then treating ourselves to a swim at a posh hotel!!

And so the journey continues...

Lots of love Jess and Karen xxx