After arriving in Laos we met up with katy and kirsty and did a two day trek which was awesome. Spent the first day walking along the river edge and into the forest. We had two guides with us and had our lunch sitting on banana leaves! After lunch we trekked along the river edge where we discovered ... leeches! Luckily we'd all opted for the attractive tucking the trousers into the socks look. Each time we found one on our leg we'd stop (and after a few girly screams) our guides came and took them off, much to their amusement. I managed not to get bitten at all (Cate got bitten once on our second day) we were all scared to take our boots off at the end of the day in case they were filled with leeaches but luckily there weren't any! We spent the night in a village up in the hills where they had no running water or toilets! Their pigs and chickens followed us into the bushes each time we went to the loo. It was really good though, all the villagers were really friendly and in the evening came and I had a 'massage' (really they just squeezed my legs, feet and back) from two of the girls. In the morning we were each given pretty embroidered bags made by the village girls. Our second day of trekking took us through the jungle and out along the river. Amazing scenery, just very very hot! We then took 2 buses to Luang Prabang - very pretty routes up mountain passes and through the valleys. We provided some amusement to the locals on our first bus who thought we were 13! Hmm! We did break down slightly as well but after fiddling with the engine with a screw driver and knife all seemed to work! We arrived in Luang Prabang last night and saw abit of the night market (which Katy and Kirsty had recommended) which has the most gorgeous silks and clothes so we're shopping tonight! Louise xxx