The following two days were spent on a longtail boat cruising upstream of the mighty Mekong River to cross back into Thailand. With a seven am start, it was a painful thought knowing we still had ten hours to go. Admittedly the scenery was beautiful, the river widened and narrowed with each meander, and it really is a mighty force to be reckoned with. Limestone karsts rose out of the waters, and the eges of the river were lined with mountainous greenery and sheer...

Am early start and a seven hour journey bought us to the country's former capital of Luang Probang. Kate was almost sick on the journey, as it was her turn to sit next to Monika, who we have all decided resembles a velocerapter, - you know those little annoying ones in Jurassic Park - in all her manners and actions. As poor Kate felt more nauseous by the minute, Monika would lean across and breath in her face, or rest her head upon her shoulder, which Kate would ...

Here we were, in Vang Vieng, the one place that has put Laos on the map. Tubing, the one thing that has become something of a phenomonon in Laos and we were here to do it. We were terribly excited. And then it rained. Not just a little bit. But hellishly. We had been strongly advised the previous day not to go tubing in the rain under any circumstances, as the river can turn from a mellow calming flow, into a death trap within a matter of minutes. We held out, t...

We arrived in the capital of Laos that morning. My goodness what a contrast to Vietnam's bustling cities that never sleep. Laos only has a total population of 6 millionm so no wonder the pace of life here seems slow and lazy compared to that of Vietnam with a population of 85 million people. As we wander the streets, we can't quite get over the fact that this small town is supposed to be a capital city - it's madness - there's nothing here!There are only three ma...

The border, nestled high up in the mountains was strange. I imagine, it would be very easy for somone to illegally cross here, they would simply have to climb slightly further up the mountainside, which is covered in lush vegetation, and would never be sighted. The official crossing consisted of a piece of rope, which was manually lowered or raised depending on whether you could cross or not. Formalities over, we climbed into our next minivan, this time I sat in...