Oh Lordy, I've gone and left a big chunk of trip undocumented again.. Here goes with the update!

We left Pakse that evening on a fabulous night bus, we've been on a few now but this one was super special.. IT HAD DOUBLE BEDS! They ushered us rrrriight to the back (above the engine) and we crept into our 'cave' -Now, you laugh -but it was a cave. If you can imagine a bus filled with bunk-bed type things running down each side, that's what it's like, only we had to sqeeze through a small gap and settle in next to a couple of Aussie lads (the back of the bus had two double beds next to each other, you'll have to see the photos to truly appreciate the oddness) I guess seeing as we were westeners they knew it was OK to mix up the sexes. Above us was a Monk too! Anyway! We chatted away to the boys for most of the way, covering many subjects as you can imagine, until Abby nodded off. They were leaving us before our stop so I used our brief stationary position for a loo break. It was an amazing experience (as always) -No water from the tap (no suprise there) and a sink and floor full of random rubbish (again, the usual) However the icing on the metaphorical cake this time was a rather large cockroach just hanging out on the seat. You bastard. Anyway, after a glance away and the realisation I could not wait.. I braved it and went in. Luckily the roach had hidden and there was a handle for me to hang myself over the toilet by. LUCKY ME! I tried to sleep for a bit for the remaining 3 or so hours, but pretty much failed, so by the time we got to Vientiane I wasn't feeling too fabulous. Tired Lizzie = bad mood Lizzie, hungry Lizzie = bad mood Lizzie. And I was both! We wandered for a while being greeted by 'Full' sign after 'Full' sign on the doors of all the hostels, before being told by a passer by that if we hung on 'til checking out time, there should be some space. We went for some Pho ('Fur' or Noodle soup) while we waited and I sat for a bit and distracted myself with a fabulous Laos coffee and a bit of 'Lonely Planet' research. 

A couple of hours later, we had beds. We ended up in a huge dorm room (split into slightly smaller 'rooms' devided by half walls) We were in different sections, but technically sharing a room with 18 others.. HA! it was simple and we all had to share a couple of dodgy bathrooms, but by now all we wanted to do was relax and keep it cheap!

I had a nap while Abby chatted to a very 'traveller looking' gent called Gabriel, who was sewing himself a nifty water bottle holder/bag. The rest of the day we spent trying to upload pictures and catch up with internetting, before an early bedtime with our books! For the following couple of days we mooched a bit, ate at a great little street food restaurant (Laos Omelette -YEP.) and sorted our Thai Visa, this turned out to be free as they were handing them out for a bit -Good for us!

Then on to the madness (and beauty) of Vang Vieng!

The journey started with giggles as the bus guys struggled to get my backpack onto the top of the bus.. Sorry dudes! I helped them out and we hopped on greeted by the obligatory  tassles and swags and not forgetting the ice-cream seller who brought us green ice-cream. As we journied we got chatting to some lovelies from Oz (yep, they're all travelling!) shared music tastes and got flung about by the speed & windy roads. When we got to VV we all climbed into the same TukTuk and as Abby and me were already booked into a hostel, they joined us to see if they could get beds too. In the end they went next door as our place was full.

We stayed in 'Spicy Laos' which I would recommend to anyone! It was FANTASTIC. It's basically a tree house. No doors, just bunks jutting out everywhere, outdoor showers (well, with bamboo walls and a shower curtain) outdoor loos (again, bamboo walls) and a communal area with cushions and a low table. -They had a movie room, bonfire, sauna, hammocks and amazing views. Seriously lovely.

The rest of our experience can be listed in single words as I'm sure you can piece it all together..! Tubing (Tractor inner tubes down the river -in the dark for us) Drinking, (Buckets, Beer Lao, Lao Lao Whiskey) Parties!, Biking (Caves, Blue Lagoon, Stunning views) Permenant marker (writing on each other) Dodgy bridges (generally to and from bars..) Pancakes!!, Sandwiches (Tuna, Mayo and cheese for the first time in months) Bonfires, Swings, Zip-Lines, Platforms (and with it shady construction..) Mud Volleyball, lots of injured people wandering around, Fire Limbo.... Get the picture?

After Vang Vieng it was off to Luang Prabang and possibly the best bus trip so far! We went by minibus and at first it seemed it would just be the two of us, before we were joined by a strange hobbling German and some locals. There was no air con, just a lovely warm breeze accompanied by South of France-type views (to give you an idea) and my Ipod playing folk music. Superb. Laos is truly stunning, all hills and valleys. We went through lots of hill villages teetering over the edges of steep, deadly drops on stilts, and had an amazing rest stop at this restaurant that looked out over it all -No joke, I don't think anywhere could compete with the view. Good food too! Before we set off again I had a quick (or quack..sorry..) chat with the ducks that were in a cage on top of our vehicle & got back in.

On arriving in LP, we were (unfortunately) joined on our TukTuk journey by the -now annoying- hobbling dude. We had booked a room at 'Vilay Guesthouse' online as LP is a bit more expensive and we didn't want to have to look for somewhere when we got in! The TukTuk driver was lovely and despite not knowing where the guesthouse was, asked people along the way until we found it! Luckily annoying man decided to go elsewhere.

Luang Prabang is very similar to Hoi An in Vietnam (we thought) as it's peaceful, calm, with pretty architecture and lots of Temples. It's easy to walk around and despite Abby's sprained, scraped foot (cripple.) we covered quite a lot of ground considering we only stayed 2 nights and one proper day! We were lucky enough to catch a free exhibition of Monk's portraiture as well, in a lovely building with bright walls -It was perfectly laid out and exactly like how I want my walls to be when I have a house!

We met up with Patrick too (the guy we had originally become friends with in Seoul, then saw again in Osaka) in this nifty (and quite posh) riverside bar/restaurant called 'Utopia' It was all bamboo floor, tropical plants, mood lighting, outside dining with a bit of volleyball thrown in. (?!) Good fun.

The night before we left we went to Lao Lao Garden and had Laos BBQ -a mix of Korean BBQ and Japanese Sumo Ramen as you get your own stove and a pile of meat, veg, noodles and egg and you grill in the centre, and make soup around the edges.It was great, but I was still hungry so I followed it with a chicken burger and chips. Very authentic.

And So! Moving on.... We booked our tickets for the Slow Boat along the Mekong River to Thailand, and the next day we began our journey to a new country. It started off with a 'Food Stock collection' as we didn't know where our next meal was coming from (Literally) So bottles of water, baguettes and biscuits were bought and we boarded. The boat itself was A LOT better than we had been led to believe, yes the seats were wooden benches, but they gave us a cushion each and together with a couple of life jackets we had a comfy place to sit! We could move the seats too, so most of us pushed them to the side and made nests on the floor.

The time sped along and although we were two full days on the water (and a night in a weird guesthouse halfway) we didn't get bored. I read an entire book in one day, and the views and waving locals kept us entertained. Yesterday we passed some kids swimming and one of the boys waved, did a dance and then backflipped off the stationary boat he'd been standing on. Show off. 

The border crossing was pretty simple, one side of the river is Laos and the other is Thailand, you get your passport stamped to say you've left one country, take a 2 minute ferry ride and get stamped into the next! We then got a TukTuk to the bus station and took a local bus to Chiang Rai, followed by a second TukTuk to our guesthouse. Easy.

And that's it! We've been sat here for aaaaages so it's time to finish up, my boney bum aches and I don't feel very well. Time for bed!

xxoo