Hey guys, we are stuck in pouring rain in Vang vieng in Laos , so thought we would fill you in on our 'experiences' and character buliding activites over the last copule of weeks!

So we arrived in Bangkok at about 2 am and the smell, noise, polluation and humidity hits u straight away! The Ko Sahn road is crazy, with people left right and centre trying to flog you 'bargain' tshirts, gucci handbags and rows and rows of beads and jewellery. After being conned by the taxi driver we checked into our hotel with this lovely english guy we met on the plane. The hotel was a dump, but we were glad to get our heads down after travelling all day from New Zealand.

So, the next day we decided to experience the craziness of the ko sahn road and bought a few bits and pieces, enjoyed haggling with the market sellers. 'I give you special price!!!'good for me, good for you'!! That night we met up with our mate Becky from Queenstown for some thai food ( not the best and even though we all ordered the same, the food was all different!) and some lethal buckets of cocktails. We ended up dancing the night away in one of Bangkok's night clubs (titled 'The club.) happy days!

The next day we decided to brave a tuk tuk ride to see the sights of Bangkok! After hearing all the horror stories of tuk tuk rides- we had been warned but this still managed to be an 'experience'!!. Of course the driver stopped at a thai fashion house, coaxing us into buying a suit or dress. To be fair the prices for a tailor made suit are pretty damn cheap, but seeing as we don't have jobs there wasnt any need! So after walking out the shop empty handed, our tuk tuk drove off leaving us stranded! Luckily, we hadnt paid him any money!

Our horror was short lived though, beacuse there is always another tuk tuk round the corner waiting to con you!! This driver was alot nicer and showed us lots of temples, the lucky buddha, etc all for 20 baht ( less than 50p). The sights were amazing.

You would have thought we would have been put off tuk tuks, but the next day we hopped into another one to the local Chatuchak market. This driver was CRAZY, going at a crazy speed and dodging in and out of lanes, we were happy to get out alive!! The market was fanatstic lots more cheap tshirts,beads, scarves, etc We were in our element, backpacks are bulging! Monday was spent at the floating market (yes more markets!), but this was a bit different, sitting in a canoe boat floating down the river, with the market sellers pulling in your boat to buy souveniers, wooden elephants, fruits, etc

From here we stopped at lots of random little town for no real reason and then headed to the tiger temple. I was scared out of my mind, you were allowed to get up close and personal with tigers and stroke them! I can well and truly say my animal fear has been conqured! The tigers are apparently 'inactive' in the afternoons and not drugged, but we are not so sure!

After 5 nights in Bangkok (more than enough time) we were ready to leave! The lonely planet recommended Hua Hin, a beach town about 3 hours away, so we endured a sweaty bus journey there with the locals and monks. The place was horrible and dirty, This Norweigian girl we met described it as 'the city of hell' which sums it up very nicely!

We made a swift return to Bangkok, where we met up with Jo and went to the grand palace- it was spectacular. That night we got another hot and sweaty bus to Chaing Mai, this was apparently a VIP bus- i don't thinkso! The roof actually broke!

We spent the weekend chilling out in Chaing Mai, a relaxed place witrh a good atmostphere. I did a cooking course here- was fantastic, so i should be able to cook up tasty thai food when i get back, mmmmm we'll see!

From Chaing Mai we did a two day trek, the first day was spent riding elephants and trekking for about 4 hours in the blazing heat! Poor gem fell over a few times! We arrived at a local tribal village and they cooked us a delicious Thai curry. Then the locals came over and sang us songs around the camp fire, the kids were adorable. We then had to sing to them and stupidly chose 'ten green bottles hanging on the wall' which is the longest , most dreary song in the world!! Then went to our luxury 5 star accommadation- a concrete floor, with a smelly blanket and your very own mosquito net!! Lets just say we didnt get much sleep, or any at all in jo's case! The next day consisted of even more trekking then bamboo rafting- another 'experience'!

After talking to some people in our hotel we spontaneously decided to follow them to Loas- not really having a clue what to expect! This was another 'experience'!!! We got a mini van with 7 others we had been drinking Chang beer with the night before ( note to self, chang beer and whisky shots= violent tendencies!!) to the border of Thailand. Little did we know this day would go down in history as the DAY FROM HELL!!!!!

A 6.00 am start involved a very stressful process of getting a visa and showing our passports about 10 million times!! They let everyone into the uk, but apparently the passport needs to be stamped, checked, stamped, restamped, checked and stamped again in the unbearable humidity with your heavy backpacks on (and this was the good part of the day!!)

The guys decided it would be a much better option to take a speed boat for 6 hours rather than the slow boat which took 2 days! We stupidly went along with this idea!! We were expecting a luxury speed boat, but it was more like a canoe with an engine that looked like it would fit about 2 people. So 6 of us crammed onto this death trap, our knees our up against our chins, soooooo cramped! The guide threw us life jackets and helmets, we looked like we were preparing for battle!! The ride was horrendous and very scary!! Then to make matters worse it started to rain, which felt like u were getting jabbed with tiny needles- very painful!! After about 4 hours of this torture we stopped to pick up stranded passengers whose boat had hit a rock!! So even more people were crammed on our death trap and more heavy backpacks! By this time it was dark and we were fearing for our lives!! Never ever again!! We had visions of news headlines ' 6 british girls die on 'speed boat' trip. Look away mum- cos the stats say one person a week dies on one of these 'boats'!!!! We found this out afterwards!! So we finally arrived in Loas, frazzled, wet and shaking with fear!! But we are safe and sound now, so dont worry mum!!

We will keep u updated on our Loas adventures and 'experiences'!! Then we head down to the islands for an infamous full moon party.

Take care everyone, miss you all

lots of love Gem and Soph x x x