The 7 hour journey on the not so bumpy road really was ever so spectacular. The winding road through the mountains took us through yet more of Laos' exquisite countryside. The jagged peaks were silhouetted by the hazy heat of the day and made them appear like sketches on tracing paper. The remote road led us through mountain villages, each was laid out similarly. A row of bamboo and wood huts stretched along the roadside, with their inhabitants nearby performin...

As soon as we stepped off the bus we fell in love with Vang Vieng. The beauty of the surrounding karst cliffs, the green fields and the general sleepiness of the town and we hadn't even seen the river yet. The hotel was a 10 minute walk from the bus depot and every single shop or stall owner nodded a greeting and smiled as we passed, no selling, no hassle of any kind. Bags dumped, and off we went. We were so excited about being here. The town gained a bad repu...

It was a long journey from Bangkok to Nong Khai on the Thai border. The 12 hour journey ended up being 15 hours but thankfully it was in the main comfortable. As we passed through immigration the Thai officer stated that we had overstayed, we were sure we hadn't, but he was adamant. So was this a fine, imprisonment or both? He sucked his teeth and shook his head. We thought we were in deep trouble. It turned out he thought it was 18th when in fact it was 15th. A...