Hi all So, off we got at the pier and Kimbers chatted to a tout and got us a room with hot showers, private bathroom etc for about 1 pound 30 per night each. Nice touch hun x We got there, unloaded, showered and the 11 of us headed out for some dinner. I was convinced I'd seen a steak house on the way through, but it turned out to be a guest house called Stouk or some s***, so after much piss taking about me being dyslexic we settled on a riverfront restaurant. Lovely food, although they didn't have enough steaks and simply didn't bring Conor anything at all (as if he wouldn't notice) and once this was rectified with a pizza, we were off. At least the boys and we were. Charlotte had a malaria tablet and promptly threw up (trust me, we've all done it. They're horrible and make you feel sick almost every time), so rather than stand round making her feel worse the seven of us took a slow walk to a bar called Hive which everyone had been telling us about, with the girls promising to catch us up. When we got there (after asking directions twice) it had just closed and everyone was just kind of milling about. All the tuk tuk blokes were trying to cart us all off to a late night drinking place called The Vietnam Bar, the only late night drinking bar in LP. Cool. What we got was the most bizarre bar so far. I thought Spicy's was strange in Chiang Mai. This was an honest to goodness illegal speakeasy, with tin roof and walls and a movable sheet of metal for the door. And Boney M on constant play on the dvd player. Spit and sawdust doesn't even begin to describe it. No bar, you just ask someone who looks like they work there and they get you what you want. Most of the time. There's a woman who sits there with a bbq on the go (inside obviously) and cooks food. One time we went in and Kimbers asked for cigarettes and got a plate of hot sausages instead. It was amazing. And on the first night we the first ones in there. A couple of whisky buckets later and we all decided enough was enough (Rivers of Babylon can only take you so far on the road to a good time) and headed home. The next couple of days were really spent just mooching about, getting our bearings, drinking and feeling hung over. we got our first proper taste of Laos food (or more properly LP food as it has its own style separate from the mainstream) and it was gorgeous. A set menu for me and Kimbers was 6 dollars each (Mand wasn't feeling too well) and we got some fantastic grub. Soup with pork and seafood, omelette, a local version of yellow curry, another dish which i really can't remember, stir-fried vegetables in some sort of sauce, a chicken and parsley mousse steamed in banana leaves, steamed rice, and a fruit salad to finish. It was all delicious (I'm taking a course in Vientiane so butter up your taste buds peeps) and cost us the equivalent of about 3 pound 50 each. The others all headed out, but we decided to go back and keep Mand company. We eventually made it to the Hive Bar when it was open a couple of times and it was fantastic. Just gorgeous with decent tunes and a really relaxed vibe. Mand was really impressed with it, so i think we might be seeing its influence in the next bar she designs. Mick even hassled the guy into leaving on The Streets for a bit the second time we went in. Oh yeah and the beer (BeerLao) is 5%, comes in bottles 660ml and costs about 50p, cigarettes are about 15p per pack. This is why we spend so much time getting drunk. That and we like getting drunk. On the more cultural side of life, we went to see the Royal Laos Ballet, in a theatre which is part of the Laos Royal Palace grounds. It was more of a dancing pantomime than western ballet with costumes, masks and really graceful controlled movement. The show we saw was the middle part of a traditional Laos story which, for some reason that escapes me right now, is of massive religious and social importance. It involved the Gods stealing a girl, becoming golden deer and old men, and fighting a lot. It was actually really good. Although I'm glad it only lasted an hour. We also went to see the Palace itself which was interesting but not very palace-like. After the ornateness of The Grand Palace in Bangkok, and even the beauty of Buckingham Palace I think we've been a bit spoiled. It was just a bit barren and plain. Mandy's thinking about tendering for the contract to re-design it. They did have one beautiful mosaic in the reception hall, but all in all I found it pretty uninspiring. We saw a couple of other temples, and then headed for the daddy of them all. This temple is set on the side of a mountain and took us about twenty minutes (and a fag break) to walk up the steps to. But it was 100% well worth it. The view was astounding. Just when you think you're getting used to being surrounded by some of the most fantastic scenery imaginable, you see it from a different angle (or in this case height) and it blows your mind all over again. I can seriously see myself turning back into a mung bean eating, kaftan wereaing, nature loving hippy. Tree hugging a speciality. It's all just so huge, you can't not feel awed by the sheer power and presence of it. You can almost see where the tectonic plates have smased into each other. I could rant on about it for hours but suffice to say it's stirred something in me I thought was long gone. We took a stroll through the night market where I picked up a couple of birthday presents for Johnny andd Junior. We had previously bought them presents, but let's just say it didn't work out. The night market though was in itself beautiful. Hundreds of stalls selling textiles (Amy we saw those cushion covers you gave us. The blue and white one if anyone else remembers them from Leeds), clothes, ornaments, belts etc. The difference is that all this stuff is produced locally by various tribespeople in the traditional way. you get the same stuff in Thailand and other parts of Laos but this is where it comes from. They sit there making it while they sell it. In retrospect I wish we'd gone on the handicraft tour which takes you round the villages and let's you see them being made first hand. Ah well lesson learned. Less beer culture, more culture vulture. The final thing we did in LP was head for the waterfall. We did this (for reasons that made perfect sense at the time) the morning of the day we were leaving. We couldn't wait to get there and swim in its turquoise water and jump off the mini waterfall (about 15 foot). Straight after packing and eating breakfast the 3 of us jumped in a tuk tuk and headed out. We thought it would take about three quarters of an hour, but even with our driver doing a fair impression of Stirling Moss it took us just over an hour, then a 20 minute walk to get there. Now the driver although was going flat out was also an absolute headcase. For most of the way the road was little more than a dusty, potholed track, but that didn't stop our man. He just went faster. We passed through a fair few villages on the way, with kids, geese, ducks, chickens, pigs and cows on the 'road' and with a little beep of his horn he just changed up and went faster still. After the first 5 minutes, Kimbers was white knuckling and refusing to look out the front and see what was coming, preferring instead to see what we'd barely missed. I can't tell you how much fun it was as he overtook on blind corners and on hill tops, almost forcing other road users off the road. Did i say fun? Hmmmmm. Anyway, after the 20 minute walk to the watefall it was about 1 o'clock (the bus for Vang Vieng was leaving at 3) so we reckoned we had about an hour....40 minutes because of the walk back down. Then we went the wrong way and headed up instead of down. It was very pretty but there was no swimming allowed. We walked back down and when we finally found the right one we only had about 10 minutes left. Mand wasted no time and after getting her self a bit wet decided to do the waterfall jump. Me and Kimbers were slightly more sedate and just wallowed, while Mand went straight up and leapt like a salmon straight off the edge. Then challenged me to do the same. After my rather disastrous attempt to cross the log on the trek in Chiang Mai (I shat my pants and refused to do it) I was right up for putting things in order and proving to myself that it had been a one off. Wrong! As soon as I got near the edge I knew I wasn't going to do it. With Mand holding my hand so we could 'go together' I began to feel like even more of a f*****. So she did it again. And I walked back down, avoiding eye contact with the 20 or so people gathered round watching the fun. And Mandy ripped me about it for hours. And hours. And told everyone else so they could join in. Happy days. I just can't understand where this sudden fear of water has come from. I've never really been comfortable with water, but this is taking the piss. Christ, Charlie did it and he can't swim at all. Hmmmmm. 20 minutes later and we were back in the tuk tuk (the driver was ecstatic cos he'd just won a fortune in a hand of cards just as we turned up to take him away) and an hour of touching cloth driving later and we were back, in the really overcrowded minibus and on our way to Vang Vieng. That was about it for LP. The people were lovely, the food was lovely, we learnt a few new drinking games, saw some fantastic sights and generally had a great time. Beautiful. Take care all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx