Welcome along to the next edition of my blog everyone. We're about to leave Loas for Chiang Mai tonight, after only a week spent here. I really wish we'd planned to stay longer as it's such an amazing country and there's so much more we could do here. Unfortunately we have a flight from Chiang Mai to catch.

Our first taste of Laos was in the captial city Vientiane. It was nothing like a city however. It felt more like the size of Chorley - much nicer though I'm afraid to say. We only had 1 night here as there isn't much to do and as we had so little time in Laos we decided to move on quickly. Our one night there was spent at a restaurant which is popular with ex pats. Hannah had fish and chips so it was a propper tste of home. We got chatting to some men who all now either live or work in Laos so we picked their brains for useful tips. One of the men who lives in Australia invited us to stay with him and his family when we're traveling the east coast. He said we could stay for free as long as we babysat one night. It was very nice of him to offer but there's no way we'll go. He probably wont even remember us in a months time!

The next day we caught our bus to Vang Vieng. It was only a 4 hour journey north so an absolute breeze! We even arrived on time! We soon found somewhere to stay and then headed out to sample the nightlife. Vang Vieng is a real party town so we had a lot of fun. One girl came up to us and said she'd seen us in nearly every town she's visited for the last months. Sop we'd basically followed her all the way through cambodia, up the coast of vietnam and into laos. I guess this happens a lot but it made us laugh. She's heading the same way as us so we'll probably see a lot more of her. We also met up with a girl from San Francisco (Jules) who was on our bus to Vang vieng. She was going tubing the next day like us so we decided to go together.

Tubing was probably the most dangerous thing i've ever done, but one of the most fun things as well. After seeing the photos my mum's told me i need to do a mental risk assessment before i take part in these things and she's probably right! As it had been raining a lot the river was really fast flowing which made it hard to pull yourself into the bars. I let go of hannah a couple of times but the locals chase after you and make sure you get in safely! It was quite funny at the end of the tubing. We expected a sign saying get out of the river now. Apparently there is no such sign, once you go past the bars you're on your own. We found a ladder at the side of the river and decided we'd feel much safer on dry land! It was quite simple to get home from here so this was the right decision!

The next day we were pretty bruised and battered from the fun in the river the previous day so we decided to chill out at one of the many bars showing friends. We must have watched about 8 episodes - it was heaven. We had a little wander around the town as well which is quite impressive with it's backdrop of jungle covered mountains.

The next day we caught our bus to Luang Prabang. We were last to get on and eneded up sitting on a wooden blank at the back. My bum was still bruised from tubing and so this was very uncomfortable! I was therefore so relieved when we pulled up to a bus station and changed onto mini buses. I had noleg room but it was so much better than the plank! Our journey was through the mountains of northern Laos which was absolutely stunning. I was more than happy listening to my i pod and gazing out of the window at the scenery for hours. About 3 hours into the journey however we came to a standstill. We got out to see what was happening and further down the road there had been a mudslide. A large coach had got stuck so all the local villagers were out trying to push the coach through the mud. Everyone was absolutely covered from head to toe in mud, that is except for the tourists! We stood and took pictures - not helpful at all! After about 40 minutes we got going again. It was quite scary going through the mud as we were sliding about a bit and we were on a narrow mountain pass. However we made it. About 10 minutes later we came across another mud slide. We were only stuck here for around 10 minutes though so it wasn't too much of a problem.

We finally arrived in Luang Prabang around 2 hours later than expected. Luang Prabang is a really pretty town. Very quiet with a half 11 curfew (which isnt a problem after Vang Vieng). Yesterday we visited the Kuang Si waterfall. This was the fist waterfall we'd seen so we absolutely loved it. Some people we were with said they'd seen better but to us it was really amazing. Hannah has new walking shoes and so wanted to test them out by climbing all the way to the top. When we reached the top you could actually walk up to the drop which was sealed off by a little wooded fence. Health and safety just doesnt exist here! We got some pretty cool pictures from the top anyway and there was a stunning view. After the climb back down we went for a swim in the pool. This is the most refreshed I've felt since bieng here. It was so cold the water but just what i needed. I would have stayed in longer but i was convinced some fish were nibbling my feet. Probably not!?

Later that evening we went out for some food and then wandered around the night market. Hannah was perfecting her bartering. She's getting pretty good. I am lagging way behind unfortunately. I'm way too british!!

Anyway that brings you up to date again. I've survived Laos - just! Off to Thailand on another over night bus tonight and then onto Australia where i bet they love health and safetly nearly as much as they do at home. So mum you can rest easy in a couple of weeks!

Hope you're all having fun back home! Missing you lots

Amy x x x