THE SLOW BOAT UP THE MEKONG...oh it sounds so romantic!!! Day OneThis time the nightmare border crossing is unavoidable. Vietnam Airlines have no flights available, neither has Bangkok Air or Thai Airlines our only option is to fly Laos Air and with their safety record (or lack of) it ain't happening... apparently Laos Air don't have a safety record because the don't feel obliged to publish it - shocking. So it all begins at about 6am when we pack up ...

LUANG PRABANG We finally arrive in LP and have to sort out somewhere to stay, which is easier said than done as it is not quite the metropolis we thought it might be given that it is the cultural and tourism epicentre of Laos, but a very very sleepy town (we should have known better this is Laos afterall!). So although there are lots of guesthouses none of them seem to have any vacancies and we all end up running around trying to secure a room. We get one, thanks...

VANG VIENG Firstly we have to start by saying that this place is a legend - anyone we have spoken to who has been (Sean Weston, thankyou) have told us how great it is so we have high hopes as we set off although neither of us really knows what to expect as Laos is so different from anywhere else we have been in Asia. The bus journey takes us miles up into the middle of the countryside and by late afternoon the scenery is pretty stunning with mountains and tiny vi...

LAOS VIENTIANE As soon as we arrive in Laos we see that it is noticeably more peaceful and chilled out than anywhere we have been previously, possibly more chilled out that anywhere on the planet - OK so we haven't been everywhere on the planet (yet) but this place must be a contender. Everywhere we look there are people asleep in their pickups/tuk tuks and the capital city is little more than a dusty town from what we can see. We check in a the hotel and aft...