01.10.09

Following our time in Luang Prabang we caught a share minibus to Vang Vieng along windey mountainous roads. Vang Vieng is an infamous place on the travellers circuit and a ‘must do’ for all travellers whilst in SE Asia. It is a spectacularly beautiful location on the Nam Song (river) in Central North Laos now famous for the activity of tubing which you basically sit in an inflated tractor inner tube and float down the river stopping off at bars for a drink and a go on the rope swings or slides. I thought it was great and worth the trip. Vang Vieng its self has built up around this activity with scores of similar bars and restaurants serving western food. Many of these bars also played friends on a loop which kept Kate happy. On our last evening I ate a pizza which didn’t look or taste right when I ate it and was to have major repercussions over the next 5 days! We caught a bus to Vientiane which is the capital of Laos which is OK but didn’t seem to have a lot to see or do. I was also ill and couldn’t really do anything. We chose our hotel which was comparatively expensive but worth it given my situation. Whilst in Vientiane we booked our onward travel back to Bangkok and chose the overnight sleeper train. We both really enjoyed this and have decided to travel by train as far as possible which will be Singapore. When we got to Bangkok we revisited the Koh San Road. Which seemed different this time. I’m not sure why but I think it was because we are a little more savvy now and the noise, smell and sights don’t shock us so much. The following day we travelled to Koh Tao which is an island in the gulf of Thailand. Koh Tao is where many people go to do a diving course and where Kate and I were considering ours. Unfortunately the weather here is not good as we are catching the edge of the weather system which has caused the flooding in Vietnam and Cambodia. We decided that there would be many more locations where we could do it when the weather is better. We therefore decided to travel to Koh Phangan in advance of the Full moon party whilst accommodation is still available on the island. We travelled by ‘sea train’ which is a small ferry. It was VERY rough but both Kate and I were OK which was good. We have found a place to stay around the headland from the location of the party but it is comparatively very expensive and much more than we were both expecting! We are about to go out for dinner and the weather is grim :.(