The morning after arriving in Vientienne we hired bicycles and headed to an organisation called Cope. This was an eye opener to the extent to which Laos had suffered in the Vietnam War. We learnt that Laos is the most bombed country in the world mostly due to the American attack on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Due to the amount of unexploded bombs still in the country many locals are still coming across live bombs and consequently being killed or seriously injured. Th...

Day 1 in Luang Prabang We arrived late afternoon and checked into Thong Bay Guest House which was beautiful (little huts in a peaceful riverside location). In the evening we explored the vast local night market and sampled local market food (which up until now we have been scared of eating but is actually rather tasty and no dodgy stomachs)! Day 2 in Luang Prabang We rose from our beds before sunrise about 5.45am to head down to the town to take part in giving...

After crossing the border at Huay Xai (thailand/Lao) we entered Laos. The following couple of days we took a boat trip along the Mekong river. On route we stopped at a small hillside village where we met local families and saw how they get by happily on basic amenties ie. no electricity, basic wooden huts for houses and fish for food caught from the Mekong River. We stopped over in another village called Pakbeng where our hotel only had 2 hours a day electrici...