To be honest Vientiane was a bit of a disappointment for me. When I first arrived I thought it looked a good place from the outset. It has a very French orientation, there's lots of luxury hotels and good restaurants but apart from that I didn't find much else. I hired a bike and visted the Laos version of the Arc de Triomphe (Patuxai), and the most important monument in Laos, the Pha That Luang. Neither was really that impressive. Patuxai was unfinished and ha...

There is one reason and one reason only to come to Vang Vieng and that is to go tubing down the Nam Song river. I was no different in this respect. You hire an inflatable tube, get taken by tuk tuk down to the Nam Song river and away you go to float down the river stopping off at each of the makeshift bars along the way. It's easier said than done as there is a strong current during the wet season, so when your mates have managed to grab hold of the 15 foot bamb...

Finally got to Luang Prabang after what can only be described as the bus ride from hell. I first got the mini bus from Pai to the Laos border arriving at 5am (about a 8 hour minibus ride). My original plan was to catch the slow boat at 9am for two days down to Luang Prabang, but I got convinced that exchanging my ticket for a straight through bus would get me there in about 12 hours. What afatl mistake. After 5 mudslides, a few fallen trees, two abandoned vehicle...