Hello all!

Greetings from Laos, country number 3 on the great adventure!

We flew from Hanoi to Luang Prabang on the tiniest plane ever on Sunday and noticed the difference from vietnam instantly- it is just so much more laid back here, nobody bothers you, the temperature is cooler and much more bearable and the people are genuinely friendly. We liked it so much in Luang Prabang we ended up staying four nights- not really sticking to our tight schedule but we figured that if we'd found something good, we may as well make the most of it! There was so much to do- stolling around the peninsular, swimming under great waterfalls, shopping in the market stalls (there were some really beautiful handcrafted gifts to be bought but don't get your hopes up we're on a budget you know! haha), climbing the mountain (hill really, but there were scorpions and spiders so it was quite indianna jonesesque) to watch the sunset, and of course sampling the local cuisine. As i'm sure you can tell, we loved it there. the only annoyance was a fat loud smelly american who seemed to keep popping up wherever we went and voicing his opinions (favourite saying- 'try the water buffalo it'll blow your mind!', it was quite nice admittedly.)

It's the monsoon season here so plenty of rain- means we don't miss home as much! it usually rains a few hours a day (theres another thunder storm going on at the moment) but no big deal.

Reluctantly we moved on to VangVieng, and have arrived today. the main attraction is 'tubing' where you jump into the rampaging torrents of the river in a rubber ring and let it take you down. don't worry we have a guide and lifejackets so should be lots of fun!

Missing you all loads enjoy the photos! love joe and vic.