OK I did it before, I'll do it again. The greatest hits of Laos. Best meal: Buffalo Laap by the Mekong River in Luang Prabang as the sun set - so romantic! Best beer: Beer Lao. No contest, literally - it was all I drank! Biggest annoyance: Buses leaving before 6AM, but no eateries open before 7AM. Runner Up: Guesthouses continually trying to up the room rate when you check out. Weirdest: Getting off the overnight bus in Vientiane at 6AM and ...

I'm humbled to say I fell victim to judging a place before I got there. Due to comments from Lonely Planet and other travellers I was fully prepared to hate Vang Vieng and only spend 1 days there - I'd even started to form my blog post on it. 4 days later and I'm happily eating my words. Bit of background. Not too long ago I believe Vang Vieng was just another bamboo village you would pass by on the dirt road from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. Once Luang Praba...

I`ve now been in Laos for about 5 days and it`s been a revelation/ I know I only changed borders but I might as well be on another planet for the experiences I`ve had so far.I spent 4 nights at Si Phan Don (4000 islands) a region of the Mekong River where theres a sharp drop in elevation, the river widens out and there`s a maze of all these small islands, sandbars and clumbs of vegetation.The words laid back and relaxed are not strong enough adjectives to descric...