Do not under any circumstances ever decide to travel up the Mekong River to Luang Prabang by SPEED BOAT!!!!!!! We found this out the hard way, only after we had purchased the tickets. The speed boat journey only takes 6 hours instead of two days via slow boat. This is definitely not a selling point and nor should it ever be considered one. On the morning of our journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong the manifest revealed that Claudia and I were the only ones travelling by speed boat. This struck us as a little odd as the difference in price is only approximately 5 GBP. As the day progressed and the introductions had been made, the conversation turned to us as the others had also noticed the manifest and told us their stories. The latest addition of the Lonely Plant advises against this mode of transportation.... (The version we did not have in our possession) the others told us of friends who had travelled this way and had crashed and had to walk for three hours with there backpacks, if they managed to retrieve them from the river....(I kid you not) Hitting rocks while travelling by speed boat and surviving is lucky in itself.....If there has been a lot of rain then the level of water in the Mekong river is high and the chances of crashing on rocks is less but still not guaranteed... Also, it is the most uncomfortable excruciating 6 hours you can imagine. A real endurance test to say the least... Try and imagine 6 hours of this, praying that we do not crash into any rocks. The crash helmets and life jackets did not put us at ease.... Needless to say we celebrated our survival of this ordeal with a few stiff drinks on arrival in Luang Prabang... We shared a bottle of Lao Lao whiskey with our speedboat crew and it went down a storm!!!!!! Luang Prabang is a beautiful and relaxed town which has a very French Colonial feel to it. The whole town is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. We spent three glorious days there, wandering around the town, seeing the sights and meeting up in the evenings with our new found friends to share a bottle of Lao Lao whiskey. A great routine that sadly came to an end. On to pastures new and after our speed boat experience, which we vowed never to repeat again. We took the slow boat north to Nong Khiaw. The safer option, or so we thought.....Three hours into the journey, the skipper jumps out of and in front of the boat, in vain*******************crash******************* Luckily he popped his head out of the water and was OK. It all happened so quickly. Apparently the rope attached to the rudder snapped and the boat veered straight into the rocks. There we were stranded on the river bank.... We all helped to scoop out the water that had got into the boat while the skipper patched the boat up as best he could. After approximately an hour or so he told us to get back in. We were assured all was OK, so putting our trust in the skipper, and chalking this down as another one of those travelling experiences we all got back in and off we went. Two hours before we got to our final destination a local flagged the boat down, and we made another little detour to pick up another passenger and his wild pig.... Yes, we had a wild pig squealing in the back of the boat for the last two hours of our journey. Just to add the final touch to our already traumatic experience. We finally made it in nine hours (should have taken 6). This picturesque location beside the Nam Ou river and surrounded by the Phu Nang Nawn (sleeping princess mountain) is truly magical. The journey here a distant memory, OK maybe not so distant but overshadowed by the breathtaking beauty of this place.... Here, there are two villages that are separated by a bridge with a few restaurants and shops. Not much else to do other than to watch and listen to the locals go about their daily chores whilst surrounded by nature. Peaceful and relaxed, nothing here gets done in a hurry. Phonsavan was our next stop. This town is in a province in Lao that was heavily bombed by the U.S. between 1964 and 1973. This is one of the areas in Laos that is contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). This has severely hampered the people's ability to use the land. It is here that we came to see the mysterious Plain of Jars. These jars are spread over a large area extending around Phonsavan and are of an unexplained origin, dating back to 2000 BC. Phonsavan is a small town along a very dusty street and doesn't have much of an appeal except for it's interesting collection of war scrap that seems to be part of the decor in most of the guesthouses. We found ourselves in Vang Vieng which has drawn travellers for it's outstanding beauty. We stayed in a bungalow, out of town and over looking a lovely meadow and some of the breathtaking limestone karst formations. It was a perfect setting, away from the masses. The view from our balcony induced a feeling of peace and serenity. A moment that needed to be captured and bottled as a remedy for when we are subjected to the big cities. Needless to say, we were not very willing to leave.... Vientiane, The capital city was our final stop in Laos. Other than viewing the main tourist sights, this place did not enchant us as much as other places in Lao. It is from here that we experienced a horrendous 24 hour bus journey to Vietnam. It seems that travelling anywhere in Laos is an absolute nightmare experiences not to repeated in a hurry. But this does not in any way tarnish the memory of the beauty of the country and the amazing time we spent there.