Hello from Laos!! Hope you're all well. I am very well, currently in Vientiane, Laos. I reached Thailand about 3 weeks ago and as soon as I arrived a knew it was a welcome change from India. I loved India to bits but Thailand is so much less intense and much easier to travel round. After all I had heard I was surprised to discover that Bangkok is actually really clean! I don't know if this is because I am using places such as Delhi and Mumbai as a basis of comparison, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was strange being in a different country after spending so long in India. All the things that I'd learnt to do in India, like make an overseas phone call were alien here in Thailand so it took me a few days to get my bearings. I didn't spend long in Bangkok as I will have to return twice more before I leave Thailand. Instead I booked an overnight bus north to Chang Mai and did 3 days/2nights jungle trekking. As excited as I was, I was still apprehensive about coming face to face once again with an almighty 8 legged beast. I escaped surprisingly unscathed although did encounter several tarantulas (I have photos as evidence as I thought you might all think I was exaggerating!). We also saw snakes and scorpions which were pretty cool. On the first night of the trek we stayed with a hill village tribe and on the second night we stayed in small bamboo huts next to a waterfall. The trek also included an elephant trek and bamboo rafting. The elephants were amazing- like gentle giants. The elephant driver (not too sure what his official title is) let me take his place on the elephants head. Unfortunately my steering wasn't too great and our elephant, who turned out to be a bit of a rebel had her own ideas and dragged us through the trees, completely ignoring the perfectly good path. Needless to say I literally looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards! She would also stop every few meters and put her trunk over her head requesting a banana. It was so cute but she had really bad breath and her trunk was so strong I thought I was gonna fall off when we didn't give her one. A friend dropped her yellow flip flops. I thought she was going to eat them but their elephant picked them up and passed them back over her head to the owner. Our elephant did the same when I dropped my water bottle. When we stopped for her to have a drink, she decided she wanted to share her drink with us and showered us with spray. By the time I got off I was covered in elephant snot, foliage and water but it was well worth it. I think Nimoo had a sense of humour! The bamboo rafting was a bit disappointing, largely because there was a traffic jam of rafts through a bottle neck in the river. One guy fell off and nearly got his legs chopped in 2. He was fine though. We had a free night in Chang Mai and went to watch Muay Thai (Thai boxing). I thought I would hate it but once I got into it I really enjoyed it! The following day we took the slow boat along the Mekong river to Luang Prabang in Laos. The slow boat turned out actually not to be that slow, but the fast boat, which took just 6 hours to get to Luang Prabang instead of 2 days like the slow boat, turned out to be nail bitingly fast! The view from the boat was amazing. Just rolling green hills broken up by small river side villages. The first town we stopped in was Luang Prabang. I wasn't sure what to expect from Laos apart from the beautiful scenery but immediately I fell in love with it. The people are really nice and have a much better knowledge of English than I had expected. The town was peaceful but lively at the same time. There were many nice shops, bars and restaurants. We hired bikes for a day and rode out to the surrounding villages. Once you leave the main town the roads turn to dirt tracks and are incredibly bumpy. The houses are constructed of timber and palm leaves, unlike in the towns where they are westernised. Everywhere is spotless, not like India where rubbish is scattered anywhere and everywhere. From Luang Pranabg we took a day trip to some caves along the banks of the Mekong and to an amazing waterfall. I think it was 7 tiers high in total. The water was so blue it looked artificial. Visitors are able to climb up the sides of the waterfall through the surrounding woodland and swim in a lagoon at the top. In England we would never be allowed to go up there because of health and safety nonsense (I know its not nonsense but its not very fun!). We also stopped at a village where they produce the local Lao Lao whiskey. Since it is essential to sample the local produce we have indulged in some Lao Lao cocktails since we have been in laos and flippin heck is it good stuff! Some of the bottles contain scorpions and cobras. When we asked the villagers the reasons for this they replied 'for health' (?!). After Luang Prabang, we headed south by very squashy minibus to Vang Vieng. The town itself was really touristy with streets full of bars playing reruns of friends, but respite was not far away. Vang Vieng is used by most tourists as a base to explore the surrounding areas. It is surrounded by caves and small lagoons where you can swim. We did outdoor rock climbing for a day in amazing surroundings. The best thing about Vang Vieng as I'm sure many of you will agree is the tubing. Tubing involves sitting in a huge inflatable rubber ring, floating down a river and stopping at bars strategically positioned along the riverside. Each bar has its own rope swing. Obviously many Lao beers and vodka redbulls are consumed throughout the day whilst making your way down the river, and for this reason it would never be allowed in England! Conveniently it was Angela's birthday whilst we were in Vang Vieng, so we had a good excuse to get heavily involved in the tubing. We all lived to tell the tale with the most serious injuries amounting to a few cuts and bruises. I arrived in Vientiane which is the capital city of Laos 2 days ago after kayaking part way down the Nam Ngum to get here (we got a lift the rest of the way!). Its a nice city situated on the banks of the Mekong with plenty of good restaurants, bars and of course temples! Today I visited Buddha Park which is well, a park full of Buddha's. I got talking to a monk and helped him with his English homework (random). Ooh and get me, last night I went with one of the girls I'm travelling with to a meditation session at one of the temples. I decided it was time I discovered the inner me (haha!). Unfortunately channelling my thoughts to focus on my inner self was frequently interrupted with thoughts of ice cream, home and the 9 1/2 hour bus journey I have to face tomorrow. The concept behind it is actually really interesting and I would like to learn more about it, although I fear I don't have the attention span for it! Along my way I have sampled a few local favourites including snake and crickets. The snake tasted like crispy chicken skin and the cricket lasted like greasy, chewy nothingness with legs. In Cambodia, tarantula is a local speciality, which unfortunately now due to time, I won't get chance to try. Tonight I leave for Pakse in southern Loas. I estimate staying in the south for just under a week before heading across to Vietnam. On the 4th June I fly from Hanoi (Vietnam) to Bangkok where I will meet Roop on the 5th...yey! (As you can imagine am incredibly excited!). We intend to spend a couple of nights in Bangkok, maybe squeezing in a ping pong show and some more Muay Thai before heading down to the Island to relax for 3 weeks. Time has gone so fast I can't believe I am starting to plan the last few weeks of my trip. I have less than 6 weeks left now, and just for the record its the same amount of time left 'til my birthday (June 24th )!! Hope you are all well and are looking forward to the English summer that we all know and love. Love as always Sarah XX