Hi all,

Our next stop after Pai was Laos. To get there we decided to take the Slow Boat option which is an epic 2 day journey to the boarder and down the Mekong River which boaders Thailand and Laos. The mini bus ride to the guest house at the boader was a nightmare. It left Pai at about 8pm on the 10th. There are something like 800 bends on the road we were on (no exaggeration) and the prat of a driver thought it was a good idea to take each of them at 90 miles an hour in the pitch black! Not the best! But we got there at about 3 am to the sound of monks chanting and wailing on a loud speaker! Then the cockrels started up! We managed to get a couple of hours kip before we had to be up for breakfast at 7 am. We then got driven to the actual boarder crossing, which was done in a little rocky boat across the river. It was the oddest boarder crossing we've done yet, but we'd got talking to some people and went exploring Laos while we had to wait for the actual slow boat part of the journey to start. Like the man said, when you take the slow boat, you gotta sloooow down. Basically, it was going to take as long as it took! We were on the boat for about 6 hours but we kept ourselves entertained and well refreshed. I actually had to drink lager! I know!!

We had to stay overnight along the river in any guest house we could find. We managed to find a room and headed out to dinner with our new friends! Half way through the night some more new friends payed us a visit - rats. In our room. On the table right by our heads. Not funny. Especially when there's no electricity after 10 o'clock! Caroline got her head torch and yes, there was an actual rat under her bed and he had chewed through a bag with our crisps and stuff in.Now, I don't mind rats, honeslty. But when they've been literally 20cm away from your head in the dark while you sleep.... Caroline jumped over to my bed and we hatched a plan to leg it to the door, throw the bag of food out, then share a bed and cover up with the mosquito net in the hope that it would stop the rats attacking us!!!! Didn't sleep very well after that. Anyway, morning arrived and back on the slow boat we ventured. A better boat though this time, we had been upgraded and because we are very good, got there early enough to bag the best seats at the back! Ha! This part of the trip took about 7 1/2 hours and went fairly quickly as we were chatting to people again. Eventually we arrived in Luang Parbang - our destination in Laos. So that's how we got there!!

Luang Prabang was nice. Really friendly people and quite a laid back place along the Mekong River. We found a rat free room, always a bonus, and headed out. There is a curfew in Laos whereby everything closes at 11.30. The only place that stays open until 3 is the local bowl plex! So that's where we went with the lads we met on the slow boat. A very funny night followed with loads of drinking, dance offs and doggy slidding (don't ask!)

For the rest of our time in Luang Prabang we saw some more temples (think I've seen enough now though!), went to see a buddist temple cave and some amazing waterfalls, much better than the Erewan Waterfalls in Thailand. I'll get the pics on FB as soon as poss! We also did a cookery course! Just call me Ramsey. Gordon Ramsey. I really enjoyed it and cooked about 5 traditional Laos dishes so watch out everyone, I'll be trying out my new recipies on you when I return!!!

On the 14th we got another night bus to the next destination, Vang Vieng. I know I keep whiging about these journeys but really, this bus was shocking! People had to sit on stools in the middle of the aisle as it was too full!! We got dropped off in the middle of nowhere so shared a tuk tuk with some other poeple and got taken to guest house that apparently had some available rooms. And now we no why - it was a s*** hole!! Sorry mom. But as we were shattered and we just needed a place to sleep we took it with the promise we would get up early the following morning and find somewhere that had more than just a mattress on the floor and a very fragrant squat toilet!! I loved Vang Vieng. We didn't do a great deal here other than sort out how we would get to Cambodia in time to see the things we really wanted to. In the end we went with the more expensive flight option rather than the 30 hour bus journey that wouldn't have given us long enough in Cambodia anyway. Vang Vieng is well known for it's tubing, and it's awesome!! Basically you get a huge rubber ring, float down the river and get pulled ashore to a series of bars!! A floating pub crawl if you will! Oh and there are zip slides, swings and big slodes that you can go on too. I did 3 of them, with a little help from a chraming Canadian guy! I landed ok the first time but the 2nd two really took their toll and my poor bum got a battering! I still have the bruises but it waas worth it. The atmosphere there was so great, everyone just out to have good time. Wish we could have done it again but we were leaving the following day.

Our next stop was Vientiene, the Laos capital. We only went here so we could fly to Cambodai and we didn't see a great deal of it. First impressions weren't that great but it served it's purpose! Next stop Cambodia.........