After departing Bangkok, We caught a night bus to Vientiane, the Capital of Laos. Our bus driver insisted on Playing a Thai CD on loop for some 9hrs and not much sleep was had! We arrived at the border and payed an extortionate $36 for our Visas. Vientiane wasnt much further on and we checked into the 'cheapest' guesthouse in the capital. We spent the next few days exploring - although that actually only took about an 1hr. There is a very nice fountain in the centre, and nearby a great restaurant! Here i did discover just how bad beer Lao is... and its even worse on Draught! We were also next to the Mekong... a lot narrower this far upstream and amongst quite dirty surroundings, the fishermen were interesting to watch however. We met up with the 'better' guys from our tour and we all headed to Vang Vieng for some tubing...

We were approached by a young guy offering us accomodation for 1.5pounds per night and we could not refuse. The rooms had no sinks, the beds were hard, there was only a fan but we just felt sorry for them. The guy was only 21, had a wife and a young boy they had named 'Jimmy Hendrix'. The hotel was across the old airfield (this town had been built on a disused airfield) landing strip and navigating in the dark was humorous, especially whilst tipsy! The place was nice.. had an air of Yangshou about it, beautifully situated by the river and great Karst landscapes. Bars and Restaurants played one of Family Guy, Friends, Simpsons etc on TV continously so a good place to nurse any hangovers. There was a beautiful lagoon nearby with deep freezing cold water which was the milkiest blue of colours and furthermore was the prelude to a cave which hadn't yet experienced commercialism and required a torch and a good pair of walking boots. Smithy and I were the only people to do this but we both loved it.. i did get a few cuts along the way though.

Now, Tubing... It seems to be the only reason people come to Laos, to get rediculously drunk and jump off really high objects whilst avoiding rocks very close by. We had heard some horror stories whilst on the way here and our group remained sober... the swimming was great fun, especially the 'rapids'. After a few hours we went back to the town, indulged on some free buckets and got very merry (now isnt that the most sensible thing to do!)

We headed back to Vientiane for 2 nights (it wasn't exactly a riveting place to be but it was quiet and peaceful - exactly what you need after 'partying'), indulged in some slightly more expensive accomodation and ate at the local french patiserrie. We then headed to Chang Mai, by local bus as we needed once more to save money. This was however disastrous when we reached Udon Thani (in N. Thailand) only to wait four hours for the bus and get back seats (which don't recline!) - we didnt sleep much, however we were indulged with free biscuits, coke, water, coffee, wet wipes and blankets! That never happens when you spend twice as much!