We are currently in Vientiane the capital of Laos. We arrived here yesterdạy, after deciding to take a private bus rather than the chicken/rat/snake bus. We visited Wat Sisaket which is the oldest Wat in Vientiane, it was filled with buđah statues, but anything that was made of gold, silver or jewels had been stolen. We also visited Haw Pha Kaew which was once the kings personal temple. Had a packed day today - we visited the buddah park, the bee...

We arrived in Vang Vien yesterdạy On our last day in Louang Prebang we visited the Kwang Si Falls which are beautiful, a real tropical oasis. Jim and some of the others went for a swim in the water and jumped off the waterfalls and the trees. It was funny to watch. We also visited a bear sancturary and a tiger which they look after. In the evening we walked up what seemed like a million stairs to Wisunalet to watch the sun set over the Mekọng Yeste...

We donned our crash helmets and life jackets and took a long tailed speedboat from Pakbeng to Louang Prebang today. We survived whichis a major achievemẹnt On the way we stopped at a Hmong Hilltribe village. As soon as we stepped off the boat we were surrounded by kiđs selling their handmade bracelets and hats. We spent some time in the village and visited the school. We met a woman who is 115 years old!!!! After the hilltribe we stopped at a rice w...

We took a slow boat down the Mekong today.  We had a private boat all to ourselves.  The boats are still used for moving cargo, but some fo them have been converted for taking passengers. It was the best journey we have done so far, absolutely amazing scenery.  Everyone should take a slow boat down the Mekong, its just a brilliant experience and it takes about 7 hours so you can really take everything in. Pakbeng is a really poor village,...

We crossed the border today into Laos. To get to the border we had to get the chicken bus from Chiang Mai.We had to leave our Thai guide behind and met our Laos guide Kham at the border.  We took a boat over the Mekong and passed through immigration and headed to our guest house.  We walked up to a temple to watch the sunset and hear the monks chanting which was really good, and then went to dinner.  We managed to eat even though there were ab...