I know we got back over a month ago, but we had some adventures before we got home so I need to write about them!

So, I think we were last in Bangkok for the second time and had just booked a bus to Laos. We were on another cramped bus overnight for about 14 hours. The bus was freezing and the further north we went the colder it became (we were not prepared for this)!

Arriving in Vientianne, the old capital of Laos we struggled to find accomodation that didn't look like a squat. We were walking round with our backpacks exhausted. We finally find a half decent hotel and stayed there for the night (you should have seen the mosquitos - everywhere)!

Because we only had 2 nights in Laos we wanted to make the most of it. Vientianne was a bit of a dump so we decided to go crazy and go on a 2 day elephant trek through the Laos Jungle starting the following morning. That evening we chilled out (both exhausted) and then went for a meal. There was a local singing and playing his guitar in the resteraunt. He was playing all these classics but got the words all wrong. In the end I joined him on stage for 4 songs (some went well, some didn't)! haha.

The next morning we had an early start and were driven by our 2 Laos guides (who spoke a bit of English and were around our age) to a remote village in the jungle. There we were joined by 2 more Laos men who spoke no English and the 6 of us commenced our jungle trek! We trekked for about 2 hours until we came to the elephant tower where we would spend the night (see pictures - I'm not sure if they're up yet)! We had lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon trekking, and we all swam in a creek.

The idea of the elephant tower is that its situated near salt licks where the elephants come. We got back to the tower at sunset and had tea. We could hear gunshots around us and were told poachers were in the area - heck!

The six of us slept on the floor under mosquito nets in the open air tower that was high up (there were bears and all sorts in the jungle). It was dark, and we all went to bed early. Ruth and I could hear music coming from a radio nearby. When we asked about it (because the elephants won't come if there's noise) the guides said it was from the village we trekked from. As if!

Ruth and I couldn't sleep because we were a bit scared and all the jungle noises were adding to that. Ruth got up to go to the toilet and saw the outlines of 2 men at the bottom of the tower. At this point we were petrified! Ruth turned to me and said "This is the first time I'm glad you're more attractive than me because they're gonna kidnap and kill you". Cheers mate!

Anyway we then heard footsteps coming up our tower. In a panic Ruth woke the guide up and he just muttered something in Laos and went back to sleep. So Ruth flashed her torch on the stair and the men left! I think they must sleep there when no one is in the tower. Anyway, I hardly slept after that because I had visions of a man with a rifle coming to get us!

The next day we had another meal of rice but it was really tasty, then we trekked again but no sign of elephants :o(. We were going through thick bush when this local man appeared with a rifle in his hand then ran off. Crazy. Anyway, we got back to the village and then rushed back to Vientianne so we could catch our overnight train to Bangkok.

Train journeys are always soooo much better than the bus. You get a bed and a good nights sleep. Oh, haha, one of the train guards took a shining to me and Ruth was my bodyguard for the night because he was lurking by my bed for about 2 hours (its the blonde hair and blue eyes)! xx