After completing some admin round the town I bumped into a couple guys I met last night in the Drop Zone, Shaun a Saffa doing TEFL in Thailand and 'Dave' (real name Jay but we went for a Trigger moment so now he's Dave) and went for a drink with them whilst we waited for our buses. After a couple hours of them apologising for leaving me last night with the weirdest guy I've met so far, we went our separate ways. My bus arrived late (as usual) and about 16 of us ...

After spending the last couple days sick in bed thanks to some random street stall food, I decided not to waste any more time and get out and see some of the city. Vientiane as it turns out is a small city especially since it is the capital of Laos but as capitals go it is also an expensive city. After trying 5 guesthouses I got a double room for about 75,000 kip. Which to me wasn't cheap but it was acceptable compared to some of the others I had seen. Originally...

I arrived in Vang Vieng yesterday afternoon and can honestly say it is just as described. Natural beauty all around the town but that doesn't seem to be what people have come here for. The town itself, littered with bars all playing tapes of Friends, South Park and Family guy with half yawning back packers munching through noodles in the afternoon. This was going to be just as I expected it to be, I was hoping I could return to being my party animal former self.....

Today I was back on the tourist wagon and I wish I could say I was having another good start to the day. After getting home very early this morning I had no one to blame but myself. Playing pool with the usual crowd of 'John's' in Lao Lao I some how managed to convince all of them that we had to go to the bowling alley to continue drinking. Lesson of the day that we have learnt? I cannot bowl when drunk...there are more dents in that alley now than before. After...

This morning saw me getting up at the crack of dawn to give Alms to the local Monks of Luang Prabang. The Alms ceremony is where the locals come together and present food to the monks of the town. They walk round the entire town collecting from people at 5 am. It was actually quite humbling to see them being presented with Alms and giving thanks to a community that takes care of them. It is a shame that some of the tourist offices take advantage of this and sell ...