So I'll begin with the 2 day journey from Chiang Mai to Laos......
We left SK guesthouse in Chiang Mai wednesday afternoon for a 6 hour drive to Chiang Khong, the most northerly town in Thailand, on the border of Laos and start of the Mekong River. The place we stayed over night was the most basic we've stayed in so far (apart from during the trekking!) But we literally had dinner and slept! although we had a baby frog on the bed with us.....Tara (my princess frog catcher - as she is now known ) dealt with that minor incident! We were told to buy cushions for the boat as we would be sitting on a wooden seat for 8 hours straight 2 days on the trot, so we did as advised and then the heavens opened the second we left for the river banks....... there was mud everywhere and people were fighting to get onto the long boats for the 5 min river crossing into Laos. Here the fun started as we had to scramble and fuss to get our Laos visa at the border along with 500 other people still in the rain! ( But although it was raining, it was still very very hot!). After the rain stooped we climbed into a bigger version of the slow boat which held about 70 people. Time passed by slowly and uncomfortably but we made the most of it. The sights were amazing and it was slightly cloudy which was god send as if it was much hotter i don't know how we would have survived. We stopped over night at Pak Beng where there is only 4 hours of electricity a day between 6 and 10, after then it is total darkness, so it was an early night for us! and the following day was much the same ( at least i got some good reading done, Hays - i read Lovely bones! x)

We arrived in Luang Prapang at 5pm on the Friday. We wondered the streets with our bags...- can i tell you that this was the first time i put my bag on my back...... wheels are just no good for boats! - Until we found this gorgeous little guesthouse on the corner of the main drag, it was expensive but we just fell in love with it. When i say expensive it was $25 a night between three!, it was the VIP suit! So yes we are slightly over indulging at the moment but Loas is sooooo cheap. We sowered, put our glad rags on (and i dont need to tell you they are rags - check out the pics for yourself)then met up with Mary,Brian, Tom and Michael who actually came down to meet us from the boat but missed us by 20mins! Bless them. We had a few drinks and then went to the locals club at 9pm!! Out here everywhere closes at midnight apart from the bowling alley. It was different, no tourists to be seen apart from our group, no one was dancing on the dance floor either so it was left to myself, Tara and Michael to get everyone going...check out the pics - we were the only ones dancing for all of 10mins then that was it, the dance floor was full. Going to try and add the cheeky video on here when i get the time to....... please dont judge my dancing skills!!!!! Anyway midnight came and went and so did we, onto the bowling alley. A very stange experience, i thought that we would be able to just sit and drink while watching others bowl, ut no, mwe actually had to bowl too! Drunk bowling.....emmmmm you can see it now cant you, me with a bowling ball after having a few to may spys (a cross between wine and an alcohol pop) Yes you got it, the ball went flying backwards! What a crack! was such a funny night, our group has tripled in size and tara and i are the only English, the rest are bloody Irish, theres Sarah the Irish nurse who iv spoke about before, she is joining Tara and I until the end if Cambodia and will join us for a few days in Bali with her friend Emma, Steve the Irish Music man ( in the hat) his cool! Iv already started saying 'grand' and 'crack' !!!! The are the funniest lot iv met so far, having such a blast. The following day, Saturday we headed upto the Big waterfall, which we swam in and I jumped off the trees and edge! ( i tel you, i have no fear at all - Mum i will be killing those spiders in my room myself from now on at this rate). We had a girly day on Sunday, Tra,Sarah, Mary and myslef we hired bikes and cycled off road up the mountain for 2 hours till we reached the smaller waterfall, which was so much prettier than the big one. We swam in it while Sarah took snaps and video of us ( again I'll try and add this when i get 10mins) We fed elephants to. I love elephants, they have joined my favourite amimal gang along with Dolphins and Giraffes, since going to the Zoo back home before i went to Europe iv loved them soooooo much. Anyway the cycle was hardest thing iv done in a long time, in the heat and uphill! But it was such fun and the waterfall made it worth it. We left Luang Prapang at 6,30pm on the night bus to Vang Vieng. Laos roads are not very good and they do not have obviously do not have street lights being 30 years behind Thailand so it was a little grooling to say the least. Tara was on the verge of taking valium it was that bad. After stopping a few times because the bus needed water and another time vbecause the driver saw someone he wanted to chat with! can you beel vie this at 1am in the morning, he stops the bus to talk to a 'friend' who just happens to have an AK47 hanging off his shoulder, we actually shat ourselves! - Mum it reminded me exactly of being in that bus crash in down town miami, the no go area!!!! -

But we eventually made it to Vang Vieng at 4am Monday morning. There was no one touts so we just had to rock up at a guest house and hope that there was room for the 9 of us (We'd added 2 Americans to the group at this stage). Anyway there was room so we got a few hours kip before heading down to do the Tubing. Tubing for those of you that don't know is what Vang Vieng is famous for, basically you hire a tube, which is actually a tractor inatube! and get a tuk tuk up along the river a few Km, then you float down the river...there are bars along the way which you stop at and have drinks and there are slides and swings. We stopped off at most bars along the way loosing the americans and Tara in the second bar! I didn't have the guts to go on the swing jumps as i was scared of making a fool of myself with everyone watching (there are 200+ doing it everyday) Sarah and I met 3 more sound Irish lads in one of the bars and we travelled to the end with them. Bob, one of the lads hadn't done a jump either as he was scared of heights and everyone's reaction so at the last bar WITH THE 30FT SWING, there was no one there, he did his jump and loved it so i was up for giving it a good go! So..... ( you know there's a story don't you....) up i go, panic panic panic as soon as i grab hold of the swing. My legs were shaking and everything, it was a horrible feeling but i knew i had to do it because all the way down the river i was gutted i hadn't given it ago. I didn't want any regrets and i had promised myself before i left for India i was going to try everything that came my way ( bar bungee jumping!) So i kicked off with my feet and my hands just slipped off the pole and i smashed into the water. It was a total body flop onto the water! It killed. I had a dead leg instantaneously and 'BOB' the hero had to come rescue me! But that was it, the fear had gone and the adrenalin kicked in, as quick as i was in the water i was out and back up the top to try again, but....the exact same happened only this time worse! You should see my legs, bruised all over. Tara took a pic, so I'll upload that when a get to a decent PC. So feeling sorry for myslef and the time nearly 6pm, the deadline for the tubes to be back we decided to head home. We had a few drinks that evening with everyone and then caught the bus Tuesday Morning to Vang Vieng.

We arrived here at 2pm Tues, checked into a guesthouse when for a wonder around the Laos Capital, because it was French independece day here in Sunday there are week long celebrations, its amazing, seeing these people party, although their fireworks leave a lot to be desired!!!!!! Anyway we have had a chilled 24hours and are now set to leave for the airport to meet Mary,Brian,Tom and Michael ( they stayed in Vang Vieng and are catching a bus this morning straight to the capital) and see what Vietnam has to offer us, see if it can match this beautifual country. Some of the pictrue scenery are just magnificent. I definatly will be retuning to Laos again......