Last blog entry!

So I'm currently in Chiang Mai airport waiting to fly to Bangkok for a quick overnight stay before the final flight home! And thought with the time I have spare I will do my final blog entry to finish the travelling tale.

Starting with Laos. Such a beautiful country, more rural and less Westernised in comparison to Cambodia and Vietnam with beautiful countryside and mountains. After leaving Vietnam we had a horrible 12 hour coach journey across the border to Lac Sao, a tiny town with one hotel, one restaurant (comically called 'the only restaurant') and one food Market. This market was definitely the most... Interesting... We'd come across yet - lying on the table ready for people's dinner were rats, birds and cat. Yep, pretty horrible to see! The next day we had a 6 hour journey to arrive in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It was very beautiful and quaint - we climbed the That Luang (their independence monument), watched the sunset on the Mekong and listened to live music in the evening.

And yet on board again for another few hours (it made me actually appreciate night trains!) to arrive in Vang Vieng. This is the tourist area of Laos made famous for it's local attraction of tubing. For those who don't know what this is you hire a rubber ring and float down the river from the top to the bottom (approximately 6km long). Sounds peaceful and tranquil right? Now add a number of drinking bars along the way, people offering you free shots, slides, swings and loud music - welcome to Laos tubing! It's pretty hectic and lively but a hilarious experience! All started well, 8 of us as a group floated down the river, stopping at a few places along the way. It began to get pretty cold though as the sun went down and losing track of time we realised at the final bar we only had half an hour to return our tubes before losing our deposit... And we had no idea how far we'd got. The river was now freezing and swarming with mosquitos - we floated for a further 20 minutes before giving in, climbing up the side of the riverbank and getting a tuk tuk to return us! And yes we missed our time deadline but had a laugh doing it.

The next day we did a trekking tour - heading to the hills nearby. We did some walking and explored a number of caves in the area, as well as local villages. Really beautiful and a huge change from the day before! On return I spent the rest of the day relaxing - this was the type of place that had Friends on in the bars so I enjoyed catching up on a few episodes.

And again, off in the coach the next morning - this time 7 hours to Luang Prabang. This was my favourite place in Laos, it's a UNESCO heritage listed town and had plenty to do! On arrival we checked out the area, watched a beautiful sunset before attacking their famous night Market! There must have been over 500 stalls to buy from - so I enjoyed browsing and bartering for random bits and pieces (be warned - they'll end up as Xmas presents!)

The next day we went to Kuang Sii waterfalls, which were stunning. They also had the added bonus of having a bear sanctuary on site, so we got lots of pictures and watched them being fed! We also braved the icy waters and went swimming in the waterfalls.

Final few days involved a slowboat down the Mekong to get to the border, and into Thailand we went! Laos was incredible, a beautiful country although the trip involved a LOT of coach time... Hopefully it's a place I will return one day to spend more time there. So in Thailand we had a quick overnight stop before heading to Chiang Mai, where I left the group. Had an incredible day starting at the elephant park where you watched the elephants bathe, play football, paint, play music then got to ride them! And following this we went to Tiger Kingdom where we got photos and cuddle time with the tigers - big to tiny size! It was incredible!

And so the last few days I have spent at a health resort in Chiang Mai, deciding I needed relaxing time before heading back to the UK and festive celebrations! I was recommended a fantastic place which offered meditation, yoga, massages, food classes and had exercise and pool facilities. Just what I needed! And so now here I am ready to board the plane to Bangkok!

I'll be honest and say the reality of going home has not sunk in despite it being less than 48 hours away now... But I'll try to sum up the last six months briefly. What an incredible time in my life. I feel lucky and blessed to be able to look back and say hand on heart I never had a moment where I genuinely thought 'I want to go home'. I've been faced with new challenges, unfamiliar cultures and different experiences and I like to feel I embraced it all and did the best I could. One of the biggest things to come out of the travelling is the incredible people I met along the way - as a single traveller my main concern was feeling lonely... And yet I was continuously surrounded by friends and people who cared. I don't know if I have changed as a person (I'll leave you back home to decide!) but I feel the impact it has had is only positive and something I will look on with pride and happiness in the future.

So that is me finished! Can't wait to see you all - I will upload final photos when back home so I won't have to bore you with them in person. Thanks for showing interest in my travels, and no doubt another adventure will be around the corner!

Sarah xx