Helllooo....

I am very tired, dirty and being eaten alive my mosquitos, here is a recap of my last few days.......

The capital turned out to be pretty boring because it rained constantly so I couldn't go out and explore much. I spent a lot of the day inside and reading books. I have started a new book called 'The children of the killing fields' which is about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. It is such a sad book but I felt like I had to read up on what happned before I went to see the killing fields for myself. It turned out to be a pretty depressing day because I read nearly the whole book! Then I went on the internet to chat to people and there was a powercut so I just had to go to bed!!

The next morning I had to wake up early (when I really realise how lucky I am not to be working) and get a tuk tuk to the bus station. The driver charged me 70,000kip which I knew was way too expensive but it was 7:30am and raining to I couldn;t be btohered to argue. Then I bought my bus ticket for Savannekhet which was going to take 10 hours and it cost 65,000kip. Then I was really annoyed!

The bus journey wasn't actually that bad because I had many supplies in the form of pringles and ritz crackers! The crazy thing though is that it actually doesn't stop anywhere for you to have a break, it oly stops to let people on and off. Then occassionally it will stop by bushes for peopel to get out and wee. I was the only white person on the bus and so I was constantly started at so there was no way that I was getting out to wee in front of a bus load of people! It was a long 10 hours!

A young monk on the bus came to talk to me. He obviously didn;t really want to but was being forced to practice his English because he kept asking me random questions like "how many people are in your family" and how much is that book." It was really sweet though and he made a good effort even though he had no idea what I was saying back to him!

When I arrived in Savannekhet (which is described in Lonely planet as this amazing place) it was totally deserted and once again I was the only westerner. The place was totally run down and nowhere seemed opened. There was literally nothing there for tourists like the usual internet cafes, I didn't really like being on my own there even though everyone is so friendly because I just stick out so much.

I found one restuarant that had an English woman in it so I went in there. A group of Thai people (who had driven over the bridge into Laos for dinner and then were going back to Thailand later) invited us to join them. They had been drinking Johnnie Walker whiskey for hours and were very drunk. It was really funny. They were so friendly and one of the women had a box of French rose which is unheard of in SE asia so being 2 good English girls we helped her drink that!

They had a whole piglet on the table which was a bit sad to see. Mirindi (my new english buddy) tried some but I couldn't do with its little eyes looking at me. All over Laos there are wild animals walking around. There are literally thousands od goats, pigs, cows and buffalo just walking down the road so when you are on the bus the driver has to beep his horn constantly to make them move!

Anyway, I did try a bit of frog but it was so stuffed with herbs that you couldn't really taste anything. We were all pretty drunk and took loads of pics of us all together. They all kept saying that they loved England and gave us business cards to go and visit them in Thailand! It was a really good night!

They had to get back to Thailand by 9:30pm so me and Mirindi tried to find somehwere else open but it was literally a ghost town. We found a fancy hotel and treated ourselves to profiteroles as we hadn't spent any money all night. They were amazing!

This morning we met at the bus station at 9am to get a bus to Pakse, which is the next major town further South. The bus was shocking. I'm surprised it was allowed o the road. We had to put our bags on the top so it was fun to see if they were still there when we arrived 5 hours later! The bus was a local one that went through all the villages so it was packed with all their supplies. At one point a tuk tuk full of huge bags of garlic pulled up next to us and they started puttig the bags under everyone's seats. The bus was so stinky!! Then they started bringing on chickens but not tied up, they were just held on people's knees! It is so crazy!!

The journey was so uncomfortable but we finally arrived in one piece (we had to sign an insurance form before we got on saying that if we died our parents would get 350million kip which is about 300 pounds!). The town is pretty empty again but there are at least other westerners at our guest house. We have a dorm room tonight with 3 other people to try and save money but the mosquitos here are crazy and they seem to be everywhere in our room so it may have been a bad idea!

We're pretty knackered now so will be going for a bit to eat soon and then to bed. Just one more journey tomorrow before I reach the islands. We can get a minibus from our guesthouse which is loads more than a local bus but I don;t care anymore. I will pay the 3 pound!!

Thats all my adventures for now....hopefully.

Speak soon x