Of all the country's on my list, this one I knew the least about. When traveling, the best source of information is other travelers, always eager to recommend (or not) a good guest house, sight or activity. But when ever I mentioned Laos, all i got was a vague "lovely" "amazing" "the nicest people in the world", no particulars, just insistence that I visit. I know feel the same. I struggle to remember all the facts,(nothing to do with a crazy weekend in Bangkok) but it was one of the best experiences so far. My time there was split into two parts, party's in the north and back to basics in the south. After a two day boat ride from the boarder down the Mekong, I arrived in Luang Prabang, a stunning town boasting excellent restaurants, classical french architecture and plenty of other travelers. From there I went to Vang Vien, a hedonistic paradise, days spent floating down the river in inner tubes, stopping at various bars along the way for beers, vollyball, rope swings and socializing, followed by nights at outside bars, free Laos Whiskey and more trance then you can shake a stick at. Every one is there to have a good time, and everyone succeeds. It was here that I met Dougie, Sergi and Chris, and we planned the next part of the trip-Four days off roading in the jungles and plateaus of Southern Laos. We hired our bikes in Vientiene, a very un-inspiring capitol city, the highlight being taken back to my guest house by a ladyboy after getting completely lost in the middle of the night. Thankfully we past a friend of mine on the way back and between us we where able to persude him/her that we didn't require any other service that evening. So day one on the road started slowly, getting used to the bikes (which were twice as big as the little things I'd ridden before). and by nightfall we had covered almost 300km and all felt confident and secure. Unfortunately, on the morning of the second day we had and accident, three bike pile up caused by a loose bag falling of Dougie's bike. He required hospital treatment and Chris and I dragged our self to a little clinic where we were patched up by caring village women. By the time we were done about half the town had gathered outside to look at the two stupid "farang's". It was quite a day, but we are all alive well and thank the god of Helmets, for with out them it would have been a lot worse. None the less, we still had over 600km to get through. So Dougie and I, who's bikes and bodies had taken the worst of it took the main road straight done to the drop off point, with only a few excursions into the tribal villages and Sergie and Chris went off road. Looking back it was one of the best things I have done so far and would not hesitate to do it again. Thankfully the company rep who we returned the bikes to didn't check for damages before giving us our passports, as all four where a bit wrecked by the end of it and a $1000 charge wouldn't have gone down to well. I feel no guilt for it, as all the companies out here have insurance and are well known to over charge tourists for repairs, using passport's as security. I did treat myself to a couple of nights in a nice room with hot water, cable TV and Indian food two nights in a row, in order to encourage a speedy recovery. Now, 10 days later, the bandages are all off and I've healed up nicely, with a few Laos Tattoo's to remind me of the wonderful country.