We haven't been on the internet for a while so this is actually being written in Vang Vieng.

We left Chiang Mai on a minibus, heading towards the Thai-Laos border up at Chiang Khong. As expected we were dropped outside a guesthouse, but it was cheap and near the centre of town so we thought why not, it was also where people we knew were staying. We met Vicky and Nicky on our minibus and Claire and Susie on our wonder around town. There wasn't much to see but we sussed out where we had to go in the morning. We got up early to make our way to the dock, where we waited for immigration to open before getting our passports stamped and jumping on a small boat over the Mekong to Laos. We got through immigration and found some food before going to buy our tickets for the slow boat. And slow boat it was. We were basically herded like sheep onto a long but thin boat with very uncomfortable seats, there were around 140 people on this one boat. As soon as we left, seats were moved and the majority of people sat and slept on the floor. The toilet door swung open without warning, the boat made many stops, often just to pick up the odd local, and the floor wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was an experience and we met loads of cool people. At the end of the first day we arrived at Pak Beng where we got off the boat to lots of people trying to get us to stay at their guesthouse, we chose one and it was fine, if basic. We grabbed some dinner and had a few drinks before the electricity went out at about 11pm, we were given torches by the guesthouse. We then headed on the longer trip down the river the next day in a smaller and more uncomfortable boat, just due to the fact that the comfortable seats were tightly packed and their weren't enough of them. Arriving in Louang Phrabang after about 8 hours on the boat, we found a guesthouse and walked round the market, before bumping into a few of the people from the boat and heading out for a drink (it seems like we drink a lot but we don't, honestly!).

The next day, the 2 of us and Fiona, Lorna, Paul, Vicky and Nicky headed out to a waterfall where you can swim. We saw some rescued bears before heading to the waterfalls, lots of pools where you can swim. It bucketed it down pretty much the whole time but it was still great, the water was blue and refreshing and it was a good laugh. A few of us then climbed to the top of the waterfall itself which looked a lot more impressive from the bottom and middle. We didn't do much in the evening but the next day, me, Wil, Lorna, Fiona and Nicky (Vicky was unwell unfortunately) charted a boat to some caves which were upriver. It took us 2 and a half hours to get there and not long to look around but it was interesting, if perhaps not quite worth the journey. The caves are places where old statues and images of the Buddha are left when they are no longer needed. We all headed back and grabbed dinner etc before booking our bus to Vang Vieng. At this point we had changed guesthouses because the other one was better, but the same price, as the one we had been staying at. The next morning we got on a minibus with Fiona and Lorna and a group of others, on the 250ish km journey to Vang Vieng. The first half of the drive was up through the mountains on steep and winding roads, where the driver didn't go beyond about 10kmh and for some reason barely left 5th gear. The second half was better with smoother and flatter roads where it actually felt like you were making progress. Arriving in the town, we walked around and found a hotel and began to settle in.