We caught a sleeper bus from Vientiane, Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam. On arrival at the bus station Helen was mildly assaulted by the bus crew while boarding and getting seated as Helen did not realise that us 'white people' had to be cramped in the back of the bus like sardines while all the Asian people got luxurious individual seats - and it annoys us to think that we probably paid more for our ticket! Our journey should have taken us 23 hours but took us 28 hours (...

Vientiane does not have a high street like most capital cities have nor does it give off an exuberant vibe. It was deadly quiet and the people do not hassle you for a tuk tuk, massage, tour etc. It's hard to believe that Vientiane is actually a capital city!? The French have certainly left their stamp on Vientiane, theres plenty of French bread and French restaurants to choose from! Vientiane has plenty of crumbling French mansions and bougainvillea­-blooming s...

Continuing from Luang Prabang, We were picked up at 7am for our minibus journey to Vang Vieng. The journey went without a hitch but both Gemma and Nick were feeling queasy the entire journey but the rest of us were fine. Thankfully! We arrived at Vang Vieng at 1pm and the 4 girls immediately found accommodation right outside where we were dropped off by the minibus, I think they couldn't be bothered to shop around. Both Nick and I wanted something outside of the...

Now that we are well and truly in Laos, let us tell you a little bit about Laos. Laos is one of the poorest nations on earth (in the top 20), but economically its enjoying a healthy growth in a difficult global climate. We couldn't wait to go to Laos as its known for its friendly locals and laissez faire attitude (It's supposed to be scam free in comparison to its neighbours and we knew we would welcome that attitude with open arms!!) Our first stop in Laos was...

From Chiang Khong we caught a longtail boat across the Mekong River (took the better part of 3 minutes!). After sorting out immigration stuff, We then boarded a slow boat to complete one of the "great river journeys" of the world, from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang down the Mae Nam Khong (Mekong River). The Mekong River is as important to the Thai's as the Ganges River is to the Indians (they call it the Mother River). The Mekong is the twelfth longest riv...