Vientiane would be our final destination whilst traveling through Laos. It is the capital city and therefore is quite a big place compared to some of the smaller towns and villages that we've passed through and stopped at along the way. We spent just a single night here at the New Paris Hotel. Again the city had that colonial feel to it with a heavily accented French influence. The weather was pretty hot reaching mid thirties to forty degrees. After check in we...

Vang Vieng was our next destination in Laos. 5 more hours on the road with Mr Luck doing what he did best and we arrived in Tenerife, ok it wasn't Tenerife but it was a very European style tourist destination like Spain or Greece (Club 18-30). It was fronted with bars, restaurants and a few market like stalls selling flip-flops and general stuff, whilst each bar had a television series playing at the back of the bar on loop such as Friends or Family Guy or other ...

After an epic drive of about 9 hours we finally arrived in Luang Prabang. We had travelled up mountains, down mountains, along roads more akin to dirt-tracks, snaked through winding, twisting roads and passed tiny villages of wooden huts. The views were absolutely stunning: just rolling mountains thick with lush vegetation. It was a huge relief to finally arrive and about 1 hour ahead of time (thanks to some quality driving by Mr Luck). We had a lazy night consis...

To reach Jinghong we had two flights that were pretty memorable due to the landing style of the pilot (ie forced to the ground, a swerve and heavy braking to stop - would definitely have failed the Krypton Factor flight simulation test) and also, that we disembarked halfway to then re-board the same plane and the same seats! We finally arrived at Jinghong, our last destination in China. It would be a time out place to stop, rest and catch up on the necessities...

The next stop on our journey was Chengdu. It was a flying visit (literally - it was good to be back on planes and off trains) lasting only 1.5 days and with a lot to pack in. After an essential fuel stop (an English breakfast with baked beans), we had an orientation walk round the city. Highlights included a large statue of Chairman Mao that appeared to be doing a half wave, half nazi salute and the People's Park where locals and school children congregate to par...