Hello again! Im now writing to you from the Laos capital, Vientiane. Since I last wrote here we've left the charming and laid back Luang Prabang and we went to Vang Vieng, which was supposed to be a small stop off on the way here. I say it was supposed to be because we ended up staying there a week, we couldnt leave! We even booked a coach for one day and then missed it cos we didnt want to go! Whats so good about Vang Vieng? Well after 5 weeks of culture this was basic but brilliant fun. Let me explain. One of the main attractions of this place was an activity called tubing. An activity so wonderful in its simplicity that you cant help but love it. We got given big rubber rings and driven 4km up the river and just floated downstream back to the town. Along the way there were massive rope swings where we would climb ladders of various heights (the heighest I did was about 10m) and swing jump into the river. It was pretty scary but so much fun! It was made a little scarier by the fact that when Sam went up for the first go he just fell straight off! After the first set of rope swings u had people throw you ropes to pull u into their little bars on the river where they sold Beer Laos and gave u LaoLao whiskey for free! Floating down the river on a hot day in a rubber ring with beer in hand... perfection! Another great thing about Vang Vieng is its the first place we'd come to that had places open late at night. Our typical day would be: get up late, go to the simpsons bar, the family guy bar, or the friends bar and watch loads of said episodes, then at 10.30 or so play in the pool competition, then when thats over go to island bar till between 4-6am. You see what i mean now about basic, non-cultural fun! It reminded me quite a lot of my uni lifestyle actually... But we finally managed to break the cycle and leave Vang Vieng on the second attempt. The coach took 3 hours to get here, although it felt like 30 to me! A word of advice: Laos roads and drivers do not mix well with hang overs. I found out the hard way. The great news, the absolutely amazing news, is that after getting a coach for 3 hours yesterday, we are getting one today which takes between 20-24 hours.... TWENTY TO TWENTY FOUR HOURS!!! Oh joy. That is the coach, by the way, from Vientiane to Hanoi, in the north of Vietnam. So its bye bye Laos today, which is sad in a way, Laos has been nothing but fun. But hopefully Vietnam will be equally exciting. Take care all, and spare a thought for us, on a bus... for a whole day. Si