So Laos, farewell my friend. Its taken three weeks, most of it rainy, but has left me with an overwhelming fondness for this poor country. How to summarise? So many books talk about how great this place is, and i can only agree with them and all the travellers you meet who wax lyrical about the friendliness of this peaceful country. Whilst the Americans did their best to ruin it during the Vietnam war (over half the country is still covered with unexploded ord...

Well, having escaped from the rain in Vientiane, Pakse was quite a refreshing placew to stay. I hired the bike and got out into the Bolaven Plateau, returning for the last push into deep southern Laos. Si Phan Don, an archipelago of thousands of little islands and a haven for backpackers. I got the boat to the islands and spent my last nights in the best bungalows i have found in Laos (and most expensive). A 5km walk with my backpack to the southern most island ...

Hey, well Vientiane seems to be disappering into the Mekong its rained so much. Last night at the riverside market they were putting together sandbags to stop the expected overflow form the river. All very organised and community spirited!! Anyway, all immaterial for me now, i have found the sun!! i booked the late sleeper bus out of Dodge and am now 300k or so south in Pakse a little transport hub close to the 4000 islands i mentioned previously. Its also ...

Hi, they dont seem to have a picture of Vientiane in the rain. Its now rained for at least a week non-stop. I guess the downside of visiting a country in the rainy season, its certainly not monsoon style humidity and a downpour in an afternoon, i think it should be twinned with a seaside town in Dorset, the amount of rain we are seeing. Its cold too. That side, i am upbeat, having a good time. I have said goodbye to my travel companion Marta who has jetted ...

So boating on the Mekong. Pretty fast, flowing huge river (i think the 5th largest in the world). Its basically a very wide muddy river, bit like the one they travel up in the Apocalypse Now movie. Very Colonel Kurz territory! Theres not much more to say about that, it has lots of logs floating downsream which occassionally capsize the speedboats, killing tourists. Other than that its a river. But then....Vang Vieng. Whilst Laos as a country is building its tou...