So, we set off from Chiang Mai on 6th March & travelled to a place on the border called Chiang Khong. The Mekong river is dangerous at night because of the rocks in dry season so we had to stay for the night. A bunch of us ended up in this little bar at the side of the road run by the funniest man I've ever met. I'll put pics on here soon. The next day we travelled to the other side of the river which was officially Laos at a place called Huay Xia & caught the slow boat down the Mekong. The boat was cramped & uncomfortable for 8 hours but I made lots of friends & we played card games for most of the trip. The views were amazing as well so it was well worth doing.

My first impression of Laos people though was not a good one. We stopped for the night at a place called Pak Beng which was a grim little place. As soon as the boat pulled in it was swamped with Laos men & boys trying to get our bags. They came in from the windows, everywhere pushing everybody over (they weren't trying to steal our bags, just take them for us & demand money after). It was horrible & I got trampled on & a nice Australian man had to pull me out! Then we arrived at our pre-payed guest house to find that the taxi, meal & hot shower we were promised didn't exist which really annoyed me (all i wanted was a hot shower!) And then to top it all off, the guest house owner offered to "pay me a visit" in the night seeing as I was on my own. I told him I slept with my knife under my pillow & wasn't afraid to use it. It was ok though, I went for dinner with two English girls I met, Harriet & Sherri & we were all in bed early because the electricity went off at 10 pm.

After the 2nd day of the boat trip we were all really bored & glad to reach Luang Prubang. Our guest house is nice - I'm staying with Harriet & Sherri so it's cheap for me as well. Athough they've both been really ill so I've had a lucky escape really. It's a lovely little town but there's still not much to do here except get a massage (which I did). There was a power cut as well so we've been without electricity for over a day, it's only just come back on. I'm gla I bought a torch! Most of our boat lot went straight on to Vang Vieng where I think we're heading tomorrow, apparently it's a lot more lively.

My phone doesn't work out here so you won't be able to reach me for a couple of weeks, there are plenty of internet cafes though. Hope everyone is good?!