Hello again!

First up can I just say Mum I've sent you a load of emails but it seems to us that hotmail emails don't get through from Vietnam at all, coukld you drop me a line now I'm in Laos to let me mknow everything's ok?

So where to start? Sunday eveningwe had a quiet night in Halong bay city, as there is nothing set up for tourists there, so we just bought a few cans of beer at a local market and had a chat. Monday we left early to go back to Hanoi abd arrived about midday. We took a long walk through the old town to the city centre. Its crowded, very dusty and dirty, and the traffic is even worse than Saigon! But it is the capital city, so we couldn't expect less really. we visited a lovely pagoda with a gorgeous view over a lake, right in the city centre. Experienced a local market which was absolutley heaving full, and bought a lovely scarf. We met for dinner and our guide organised a game of 'spin the chicken head'... think spin the bottle- with a fried chicken head. Do i need to begin to say how odd that was?! We moved on to an Irish bar (no cider or guiness) untill at midnight the poliuce came and removed us. In the capital cities here the midnight curfew is enforced much more strictly. we moved on again to a sort of secret underground bar that blared out trance music all night. full of backpackers as its the only palce to drink that late.

Tuesday I had a late morning and met the group for the water puppet show. It was the most bizarre thing ive ever seen! really wquite entertaining though, very clever, and nice to see something so traditional. That eveing we said goodbye to 10 of the group which was very sad, and met three new peopel who have joined us to see Laos. The group feels much smaller now but nwe're getting on really well which is good. We went to the same bars again, ending in the secret bar after we were ejected from another smaller bar just after the curfew.

Weds was a painfully early start, we met at 6 for a 12 hour drive to the Laos border. We stayed in a small border town with one restaurant (cleverly named the 'only one restaurant') and had an early night.

Left early thursday for Vieng Tiane, the capital city of Laos. Its nowhere near as dirty or busy as saigon or hanoi, which was a lovely change. We saw two temple-museums and met for dinner at a fab restaurant with a live band, who played great accoyustic versions of western songs and even let one of our group play a few himself. great fun! We went onto a rooftop bar whihc opened till 12 and had a handful of suspicious looking 'women' in it. Then on to a late night club at a hotel. Well, what can I say. Sex tourism is absolutley rife. The two girls of the group were the only white women there, and quite possibly the only two without a penis. Our guide did warn us but I was quite shocked at how blatent the prositution was- we even saw money exchange hands at the bar and on the dancefloor. I found it all a bit disturbing. Me and one other left early.

Friday, up ear;y for a cycle ride arounbd town. visited a centre for education on cluster bombs and fundraising for artificial limbs. Laos was bombed move heavily than any other country during the vietnam war due to its unfortunate geography. There are victims of unexploded devices all around and still people are being injured today. So sad. We were told the story of a boy who picked up a bomb in error, and after to driving to two hospitals, neither of which had any blood, died. This really hit home for me. The country is too poor to treat their victims and american aid stopped 3 years after the war ended. Horrendous. Onto the biggest pagoda in Laos. beautiful views and got some nice photos. We then stopped at the 'victory arch' modelled on the arc d'triumph. then back home for a quick lunch and on the bus to Vang vieng.

Arrived late on the 19th. Vang vieng is the party capital of Laos. Its like a little Ibiza or Malia in the middle of nowhere. I dont know whether its a good thing or not. full to the brim of pissed up backpackers. Well, if yuou cant beat em, join em. That night I had four 'buckets' of local vodka and coke and of course was sick as a pig!

The 20th bought the most amazing hangover cure, a tuk tuk ride to a secluded lagoon with water so unbelievably clear, a rope swing to get in and a diving board fashoined from a tree. Absoloutley amazing. Against my better judgement we went 'tubing' in the afternoon. The deal is, you hire a giant rubber ring, get into the fast flowing, rocky river and holler at the staff of any bar on the banks which you want to join, they throw you a rope and haul you in. Completely utterly dangerous! but bloody good fun. of course we all returned battered and bruised half drowned and shattered. I'm covered in bruises and at one point i thought i'd broken my toe but its gone down now. Fun fun!

Yesterday we left early for Lau Prabang and arrived in the afternoon after a hellish journey with the worlds worst driver. Met for some street food which was dead cheap and browsed the markets before playing some pool and going to bed early.

Hope you're all well! xxx