After a bit of rush to get from the top of a mountain to the bus station- a quick good bye to the monks- and we were on our way to Vang Vieng just south of LP. I say quick but we decided to brave a night time "VIP" ( they dont know what this means) public bus. Not recommended. 8 1/2 hours later. Sounds good hey. Only arrived at 4am this morning, probably the reason why Im in a bit of a daze at the moment.  

The bus left almost on time- i had to go to the toilet- and our tuk tuk was a bit delayed so we kinda held it up. Never mind, the tire blew out in the middle of no where. The driver and pretty much all the Lao men on the bus got off to fix the thing ( how many lao men does it take to change a tire...) . Wasn't scared tho - apparently its pretty common place for one man on the bus to have a machette :).  The rest of the way we crawled up hill at 15km an hour. Officially the slowest bus in the world. Left right left right- no travel cushion was going to help me sleep! Got dropped at the bus station in Vang Vieng at 4am this morning. We (me and sarah) had arranged with the other girls a place to sleep. Unfortunatly with no map and no internet we couldn;t get in contact with them. Luckily the people here get up really early and already they were setting up their home made resturants and food stalls (i dont think i will ever stop being amazed at how hard these people work!). The tuk tuk men were taking the women to market so when one stopped we jumped on and - thanks to the lonely planet- choose the most gorgous guesthouse by the river. Waking up this morning in my princess style mosquito net in the little bamboo hut with a veranda- heaven! Caught up with the girls today and had a wkd day TUBING! Vang Vieng is a bit of a backpacker town and i think theyve created the most fun sport on the planet. I say sport- but really you just sit on a tractor inner tube float down the makong river (which runs through Lao). There are loads of bars along the river and you stop and have a drink at each one. The local people pull you in on a stick lol. It sounds crazy but it really is a wkd idea. Lazy river type thing. Met lots of people and just had a kool day. 

After a million days on bus and boat I dont think Im going to sit down for the rest of the trip but it was worth it. Have seen Lao- only now I want to come back to see more. Time is not on my side at the moment but the next few days should be more relaxed....o hang on...have decided to kayak to Vietiene tomorrow (the capital of Lao)- well its not a bus or a slow boat- sounds like a great idea!

After that its Hanoi and back to the original plan - ...will stop rushing arund like a mad thing- promise! Ive got days to sit on a beach tho right.....

Love to all,

 Suzie

off to watch friends next door in the bar! mmwwwwoooaah!!!

xxx