Hi again,

From Chiang Mai we headed to Laos. We decided the best way to do this would be by slow boat rather than the usual over-night bus. So we got a minivan bus to the Thai/Laos border and got on our boat travelling down the Mekong river. There were plenty of other people on the boat, some of whom we had met in Chiang Mai on nights out and on the jungle trek. Strangely, we also met some Irish girls that we had seen in Goa. We needed the company because although the scenery was incredible, the boat was cramped and uncomfortable. We played cards, read books, drank beer and slept away the first day which lasted from 10am till around 4pm. The boat stopped at this time for everyone to have an overnight stop in a small village half way to our destination of Louang Phrabang.

The overnight stop should have been relatively easy as we'd arranged our accomodation before hand, so all we had to do was, drop off our bags, eat and sleep. The place did have a reputation though, "The biggest cockroaches in S E Asia". We went to dinner with friends from the boat. One of the girls had just finished a 10 day Buddhist meditation, which means sitting in plain room with no human contact for 12 hours a day. After dinner we returned to the hotel. On getting there, we found a couple of tics on the bed. Under the pillows were a couple more. Under the sheets were a couple more. We went and told one of the guest house staff. When he saw the room he burst out laughing at us. We had a bit of an argument before he pointed at one of Sophie's moles and said, "I think there's one on you neck!", before laughing some more. We both started yelling at him and he ended up throwing a glass on the floor and storiming out. It was all ok in the end though as we got our money back and booked into a cheaper, nicer, guesthouse and had a good nights sleep.

The next day the boat was different from day one. It was much more spacious and had comfier seats. The day passed quite quickly and we made some more friends, played some more cards and drank some more beer. We arrived at Louang Phrabang at around 5pm. It was the nicest place we had seen so far on our travels. Laos was a French colony for around 50 years and Louang Phrabang really looked like a small village from the south of France with a few Buddhist touches here and there. We stayed in a beautiful guest house for just 60,000 kip - around 2 pound each. We ate a lovely meal that evening but it was too late to do much so we had an early night.

The next day we went on a tour of the village. I really can't describe how pretty it was, which is a shame because our photos from this point were lost. Every buildint looked like countryside mansion, with big, open plan stairways and French windows on every side. The breakfast was either traditional Laos soup or croissants and coffee. During breakfast we met a a couple very much like us and agreed to go out for some drinks that evening. We started in a place called Lao Lao bar and got free Laos Laos shots with every drink. Laos Laos is a spirit made from sticky rice (you can buy a 75cl bottle for 5,000 kip - 35p) and is not that nice, but its rude to turn down the local beverage. We bought a cook-your-own-Laos-meal, which was really tasty and really fun. After the bar shut at 11, for the local curfew, we we're told to head to the bowling to continue our night. It really was strange, as it was the only place open, it had a cocktail bar and a beer bar, 8 lanes and Western music. I naturally dominated the bowling on the first game and let our dutch friend win the second. The Laos Laos began to catch up with Sophie mid-way through game 1 and she failed to score many points after that.

The next day we visited the local waterfall. We didn't really expect much but it was really beautiful. The safety regulations being what they are in Laos, we managed to get right to the top and take photos from the edge of the main lip of the waterfall (maybe 150 metres high). Afterwards we went back to the bottom and swam in the pools at the waterfalls base. There was a rope swing and some small ledges to jump off, which was fun. On the way back to meet out tuk tuk driver we stopped at a bear sanctuary and bought a t-shirt each. The tuk tuk back was hilarious. Half way back we stopped for a woman waving her arms. She was with a man on a bike and they had had an argument. She got in our tuk tuk and he blocked the road until she got out. She didn't, and half an hour later we managed to get away, with the bloke pursuing on his bike.

The next day we got a bus to Vang Vieng, our next stop in Laos, ready for "tubing".