So I arrived into Vang Vienne with my new crew of misfits after a very windy and bumpy 6 hours in a mini van, it was cramped and warm but at least we got to travel together in our own special way.Highlights of the journey included the spectacular mountain views, Paul puking up his malaria tablet out the window and me having to pee in a bush which basically shredded my skin and clothes and left me covered in thorns - stupid driver didn't point out that the bush was actually slightly poisonous until afterwards, luckily he had special liquid tiger balm to sort me out. We also had to stop for half an hour as a lorry was parked across both lanes of the road, we soon realized a car had misjudged the corner and gone flying over the edge of the cliff, the lorry was attempting to pull the mangled up car back onto the road, as soon as we heard that the driver was alive we all calmed down and sat in the middle of the road playing gin rummy and enjoying the break from the stuffy mini van.

Arriving into Vang Vienne was a little strange, we were all a bit dazed after the journey and after the sweltering heat of Luang Probang we all tumbled out of our mini bus to find it warm but raining?! It's become rather strange to witness rain out here as its only happened a hand full of times during my whole trip. We quickly found a hostel that would take us all for a very reasonable price and decided to crack open a few celebratory beers and play some drinking games before going for tea, no one knows what we were celebrating? Maybe good company? Maybe surviving our mental drivers attempts at killing us a mere few hours before? Or maybe just the fact that we were all travelers living the life that many only dream of living themselves.It wasn't until after a really funny game of ring of fire which included me drinking 4 large bottles of beer mainly because I kept forgetting a key rule and calling everyone by their real names - why I couldn't remember to call Kara "County Durham" I don't know, it's like I had "kara" tourettes.By the time we rocked up to a local restaurant I was having troubles with my body, it wouldn't stop dancing and therefore made it rather difficult to eat resulting in me gobbling up half a plate of chips and then breaking away from the group to drink and dance.Soon everyone followed the boys played pool , the girls made new friends and danced and I made sure I drank a hell of a lot of the toxic 'Laos Laos' whiskey which is so cheap out here it is cheaper than water and therefore free from every bar.The night ended up being a hell of a lot of fun, other people from our slow boat a couple of days before came and found us and our group was made much bigger, better and way more crazy.I made it home by the insanely late time of 1am due to the curfew that the whole of Laos has because apparently they don't want to become like Thailand which is kind of fare enough but does suck when you want to carry on going but your forced to go home and be quiet.

Our first full day in Vang Vienne and I woke up pretty hung over but really excited, we were going to go tubing today.Now tubing is something that every traveler who comes to Laos or even the north of South East Asia has got to do and after doing it I highly recommend it.The basic concept is that you hire a big rubber ring and float down the river surrounded by beautiful mountains which look like something from the set of Lost and whilst floating down enjoying the sun people from the bars throw ropes out and pull you in for a drink.The bars are amazing, they hand out free shots, spray paint you with dirty yet hilarious phrases and they try their damned hardest to make sure you have the time of your life.One of the things which I loved was the swings and slides into the river, a few of the key bars have flying trapeze swings, water slides and zip lines, all equally dangerous but all incredibly fun! Our first day of tubing we set off a little late after the boys all forgot one thing or another and we all had to wait as they ran to and from our hostel.Eventually we hired our tubes and hopped on one of the free tuk tuks to the start of tubing with the intention of floating back in time to hand our tubes back before 6pm.Getting back by 6pm didn't happen, not even close, we were all having too much fun drinking in the sun, jumping in and out of the river and writing all over each other.I had one of the best days in my whole time in South East Asia, I cant think of a single bad thing about the day it was just amazing!!! I can't stop smiling just thinking about it, my new group of friends made it even better as well we all fit in together with such ease and I along with everyone else could just be myself and have a laugh.

We ended day one of tubing by watching the sun go down at a bar on the river which had swings to have fun on and platforms to chill out on, however the platforms were more use full as dance stages and due to the bar playing brilliant music we made the most of it.

After a quick change into dry clothes everyone ended day one of tubing in the same bar as the night before named the Bucket Bar, we partied the night away - again until 1am lol and then went home to bed hoping our hangovers from 12 hours of drinking wouldn't stop us from doing it all over again the next day.And luckiy it didn't - even better than that we all managed to get up, eat and get to the river for 12 where we met up with our extended group and all spent the day together, taking the mick out of each other, jumping off the high platforms into the water and doing limbo …. Does it get any better?!

Our 3rd day was classed as a chill out day we all agreed that tubing was out of the question due to enormous hang overs so instead everyone headed to one of the many friends cafes - which basically have big lay down beds with low tables, everyone chills out and watches reruns of friends whilst eating cheap and slightly odd western food.I think I sat for 3 hours watching friends then another hour watching family guy whilst attempting to write my diary but my tired little head didn't help.

Day four and you guessed it, it was tubing time again!!! Another day of fun on the river and another day that I cant even describe how amazing it was, everyone whos been knows exactly what im talking about, especially my slow boat crew. The day ended with Alan so drunk he refused to let go of his prize possession … a gate! Theo stalking the girl in the red dress and me so tired I couldn't be bothered to deal with the police thinking I had started a brawl, the sandwich lady giving me under cooked chicken (which I ate … very ill the next day) or the fact that when I got back the hostel owner told me to get the Irish lads out of the hostel immediately as they were too drunk - when I asked what on earth she was talking about she explained Dave had thrown his back pack at her? We later found out he had had an argument with Alan (who was passed out at the time) packed his bags and decided to leave, only to get to the top of the stairs remember he was afraid of heights and decide to go back to bed, absent mindedly dropping his backpack down the stairs in the process.In the end the hostel owner let the boys stay and I went to bed exhausted - oh the dramas of being in a big group J

The following day and it was time to leave, we said good bye to the Canadians and John and boarded a bus to the capital of Laos named Vientiane.It was sad to leave but very much needed, if I had stayed any longer I would never have left and just become that crazy lady who works and lives on the river - a bit like the Canadian gang lol.