16/04/2014

We woke up and headed back to the boat. We all jumped on and off we were. I didn't buy any snacks the night before and instead just relied on my horrible bananas and the generosity of other people handing out cookies etc. Again read book. Also played logo quiz on my phone with everyone and tried to guess as many of the unanswered logos as I could. Dan already had the app so we worked together. We then moved on to cross words on Fran's Ipad as well as hangman lol. I sat next to Arnel this time and he gave me the heads up about the Philippines and where to go. We stopped off at a few places along the way, and some locals got on. The boat however was all tourists. Around 35 in total maybe. At one point they tied a pig up by the feat and it got on haha.

We eventually arrived in Lunag Prabang, but of course not near the town. So we had to get a tuk tuk, but I wasn't game. So instead I set off to walk. There were some other tourists who also didn't want to stump up so off we went.

It then occurred to me that numerous bikes going past were all going to the same place, why was I bothering walking it. So I flagged down a bike that went past, it was a French man and his Son. He noticed me and stopped. I asked if he was going to Luang Prabang, which he was, and whether I could jump on. He of course was fine with it, so I gave my small day back to the son and I was on the back with the Dad. These bikes were monsters!!! Not any old normal bike, they were like lorries. Turns out they had started in France, and there was four motorbikes and one car making the journey, through Europe, across central Asia (Iran into Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) through China and now they were heading down. They started a year a ago. Man I was so jelous, sounded like such an adventure. Riding in we got so wet. This time there was Dye in the water as well. Luckily I had taken my top off when walking as the humidity just drains your tshirt so wet. In Laos the festival was still going and was the last day. I stuffed my electronics down my pants so they wouldn't get wet lol. The guy then stopped and dropped me off and explained this was the main street. I shook both their hands and looked for accommodation! Found my barings on my map and headed for the cheap places.

I eventually found what was the cheapest in town at around 40k which is about £3. Real expensive for a dorm! Man Laos is expensive. I got quoted 20k for a donut on a little stall on the road. That's £1.50!!!! That's more than back home. It should be like 20p or something. This is Asia.

Found an awesome baguette for 70p though. Laos is an ex French colony and there are lots of croissants on sale etc.

17/04/2014

Had a recky of the town. Luang Prabang is like a peninsular town which juts out agains the the meandering Mekong River, so it doesn't take long to walk round. Its really nice here, and really chilled out with a colonial feel. I went in some temple things and priced up some tours en route. Also bumped into lots of people from the boat, as well as Dan and Fran. Wrote blogg on night and did research.

18/04/2014

Got a virus on my computer on the night after putting my SD card into a shared hotel computer when trying to upload my pics to facebook. Corrupted the images but they're still there. LIVID. Was so close to opening Glenn's letter…

19/04/2014

Tried to fix memory card. Still livid. Some lasses from Denmark and the Faeroe Islands checked in at the hostel. Couldn't believe it! Population 50,000. A full stadium of light. Haha they thought Wales was a part of England.

20/04/2014

Went to the waterfalls today. Was such a nice day. There was a massive crew of us all from the dorm and we all shared a cheap tuk tuk there. The girls also met up with some lads who they met in Vietnam. They were really sound lads, one English one Welsh. So funny lads. Especially the Welsh geezer Jordan, was a real witty guy, and everything he said just got rendered halarious by his accent. Jordan told some funny story how his dogs dad was once Mr October in the Pedigree calendar. Big call. Big, big call.

We all went swimming in the beautiful waterfalls, which had nice turquoise pools at the bottom. They were so good it didn't even look real! Bumped into Dan and the lasses, as well as the new york couple from the cookery class. Was nice seeing them again.

On the night we all went out for food and me and Marcus the English dude plaid a few games of pool. After we walked to Utophia, a real cool bar in town. Then after got a tuk tuk to the bowling alley, where everyone goes after. Was heaving!! Was carnage. Met loadsa new people today, too many to mention.

21/04/2014

Chilled. The lads moved into our dorm and was all fun and games. Played handball in the dorm lol. They went for curry on the night. I rocked the baguette.