Sabadee! Here I am in Huayxai, in the northern Bokeo province of Laos! A most fantastic country! But first I suppose I should give you a low down on the goings on since my last night in Pai..... .......well being my last night, we all decided to have a crazy night out as you do...any excuse really!! Ended up going to an open mic night at a local bar...it was really good fun! Most of the guys who were in our little "family" at Family Hut, (the place I was staying) could play the guitar so they were up there singing and strumming away....naturally we were heckling. but as the drinking continued we all got up and sung all those classic Beatles tewns....John Lennon turning in his grave! Lol! Ended up going to Bebop and they were playing James Brown all night and then finally saw in the early hours at Bamboo Bar. As most of you are aware I can't take my liquor, so I ended up going to bed while the others had a bonfire and then saw sunrise in the hotsprings. Next morning...blurgh was so so so travelsick, (hmmm hungoversick?) on the minibus back to Chiang Mai, though highlight was definitely seeing a massive king cobra crossing the road...don't worry mum was behind the glass of the minibus! Then continued all the way over to the border crossing at Chiang Kong, boring boring place but stayed in cool guesthouse. Then over the Mekong river to Huayxai, (pronounced Why Sigh no less) to stay the night before getting in the back of a pickup truck to zoom off into the jungle in the Bokeo National Park. Urgh. Lets just say roads in Laos are somewhat....interesting, three hours on dusty clay roads, (you'll have to check out the photos later cos I got absolutely covered in dust Lol) and then we arrive in the jungle! Have to hike for an hour uphill to tree hut one, (there are five in all) and guess what they have there! A cute lil baby monkey called Sumsi and a teeny one month old asian bear cub called Polar, both are orphans that the forest guards rescued from poachers who shot their mums! :( Anyways after a great deal of ooohing and ahhing, we don our harnesses and head up to the first platform for a zip along the wire to the first hut..........80m off the ground......was, to be honest, rather scared but once you've done it once its completely addictive! The adrenalin rush is mental and its sooo much fun zoooming in and out the tree tops. My fav was the 400m long zip wire, 200m above a ravine in the heart of the jungle, almost wet myself the first time!!! No photos of me on the zips....but we have Jo on a zipwire videos taken with my digi camera coming to an email inbox near you soon! Then hiked and zipped for another half and hour to hut three where I spent the night. Had a beautiful view and sunset and the photos simply don't do it justice. At sundown the jungle went crazy with everykind of animal imaginable calling out, had some good food and then hit the hay to avoid the mozzies. CRASH! Middle of the night we get a visitor, a sivic cat, (looks more like a monkey to be hones) having the cheek to eat our bananas! Just sitting there for about tens mins only a metre away! Up early to catch the fantastic dawn chorus and then hiked for 3 hours along the river to Hut Four which is situated above a jungle waterfall. The hike was a b**** and was almost in tears near the end as it was constantly uphill and over boulders through rivers etc etc, but when I made it to thwe waterfall, got to have my herbal essences moment washing and swimming in the waterfall and its pool! But the best was yet to come, remember Sumsi the baby monkey? Well she'd gone out with one of the guides to Hut Four the day before and she took such a liking to me she wouldn't leave me alone...not even to go to the toilet? Now have you ever tried to pee in the jungle with a baby monkey gripping onto your head? Comedy moment. Was swimming and diving around the waterfall and Sumsi was swimming too! Super cute! Though at one point I got my camera and sculled with one hand across the waterfall pool to take photos and she thought it would be a great idea to come and jump on my head when I was trying to do this....so I struggle across this pool with a monkey on my head, camera in one hand with all the guides around the edge laughing! Sumsi ended spending the rest of the day with me, trying to groom my eyebrows and gripping onto me while I zipped around on wires! Check out the video of Jo plus baby monkey on zip wire! Felt like a protective mother and she spent the night all curled up around my neck! Think I may have monkey fleas though now..... Was supposed to go for a night hike, but the forest guides wouldn't let us go out as they had checked out the route and basically come smack into the biggest cobra they had ever seen guarding her eggs, they couldn't see the end of her but the diameter of her coils was about twenty cm! Scary! Was shame though as the next morning the guides found tiger tracks there! (Just a "baby" of 80 pounds!) Next day was another early morning hike for 2 hours back to the start of the reserve then another hell ride back to Huayxai. So am now bonefide jungle queen, will update photos asap, but until then you must simply make do with this blog! Gotta go as desperately require shower! Lol. Jo xxxxxxx