The Big Trip...

Very quick entry here...

My second last night in Laos and i mwet up with Hans and Jo. We went out for a great dinner then settled into my new favourite Bar to watch a movie. Its all very exiting stuff in Laos (well the country has an 11.30pm curfew!)

The following day I changed hostels again after the worst nights sleep ever! Upping my price to now $15 a night (and people thin laos is cheap..i tell you, i resent paying 7 pounds 50p for a room) i had a beautiful room 2 doors down from my last hostel. I spent teh day with Jo and Hans, going to see more temples before our final dinenr together and an early night all round.

On my final day in laos i met up with my friend Mike (whom i met in Fiji) for lunch and then took a tuk tuk to teh airport and it was farewell to Laos.

Great Country, great people...everyone should visit.

Sabaidee everyone! (that means hello in Laos)

Well, i know i have not updated for my entire time in laso, and this is because its been a really relaxed and chilled out week and there has not been too much to report...so i thought i would condense it into one blog entry.

Luang Prabang (LP) is an absolutely stunning french colonial town set upon the Mekong River. On our first night there a big group of us went out for dinner adn then had an early night as we were exhausted from our previous bad night's sleep in Pak Beng.

On my first full day in LP i just chilled out...sat by the river bank and read my book, had a tradittional lao massage and people watched from the quaint cafe's. At night a group of us went to the food amrket for noodle soup and then had a wander round the textile night market. Textiles is amajor industry in laos so it only seemed right to give back to the community and treat myself to a handwoven silk scarf!

Day 2 in Lp and we all hopped into a tuk tuk to take us to Tat Kuang Si. This is a multi tiered beautiful waterfall about 1 hour outside LP. We spent the best part of the day swimming there and en route back to LP we stopped at a laos village which was really interesting. AT night we all just went out for dinner again and wen to a bar. Everything closes in Laos at 11.30 due to government legislation so there s not too much to do at night (which is fine).

Day 3 in LP and i decided to be active and see the city. I visited the Royal Palace Museam, Wat Xieng Thong (probably the most beautiful temple i have ever seen) and i climed Phu Si (2000 steps..not so easy!). This gives great views over teh city and has some unique temples at the top.

I left LP the follwing morning for Vang Vieng. This was a 5 hour bus journey and was surprising fine (apart from the mountain road that left me almost throwing up!) On arrival into VV i was dissapointed. We had left this beautiful quaint town and arrived in a touristy building site, where every restaurant shows friends on widescreen tvs. I spent the afternoon trying to find a half decent place to stay and then met up with the dutch couple and olga for dinner.
Then me and Olga went to a bar which was full of backpackers and i felt like i was in Australia again..very strange.

I only had one full day in VV and i spent it tubing on the river. The tuk tuk drives u 3 kilometres upstreamand u float all teh way back to teh start. This started really fun and you can go along loads of ziplines over the river, and there are bars and restaurants all the way along so you can stop and just relax for a while. Then the weather changed and it got cloudy and the wind picked up and started to blow us the wrong way!! It was not amusing..there we were..the 4 of us frantically paddling to stopus from going in the wrong direction! Eventually we gave up and got out of the river, grabbed a tuk tuk and headed back home.

That night we sat and watched friends in a restaurant for about 2 hours (you think thats bad..the guy sitting next to me had been there for 11!) and had an early night.

The next morning i caught the bus to Vientiene. This bus journey was not as good as the previous one as it was hot, cramped and took twice as long as it should have...oh well..the joy of public transport in Laos. I arrived late afternoon, checked into my guesthouse and me Olga for dinner. WE had a great meal (the food here is awesome!) and then we wernt to a bar called the Chicago Bar where we put on a movie on the wide screen, sat on compfy sofas watching it and sipped on cocktails..all for less than 1pound!

Today I got up early and checked into a cheaper guesthouse and then set off on a supposadly 6 hour walk arounda ll the cites of the city. It took me 2 and a half hours (i have no idea where tehy got 6 hours from - the city is small). I visited Patuxai (which looks like teh Arc de Triuph in Paris) and climbed up it to get great views of the city. Then i walked throuhg some markets and onto That Dam which is one of VIetiene's oldest Buddist stupas. I then visited a couple more temples and some big foutain in the centre, before going to JoMa's cafe (such a good palce..its a chain here) for lunch and a read of the Laos times (which is in english). Thats about it for Laos so far...I leave for Vietnam on the 29th.

Till next time
Danielle xxx

Hey everyone

So, I have just spent the past 3 days travelling by bus and boat, and although the scenery was amazing..ther novelty wears off after about 1 day of it!

Anyway, here's how the last 3 days panned out...

I was up really early to be picked up by the shuttle bus that would take us to the Thai border. The bus (which was supposed to come at 8am) finally turned up at 10am. It was one of those little minibuses with no aircon and no radio..oh, and it was full to maximum capacity. There we were, 9 of us, crammed in like sardines, absolutely sweltering and stuck on this bus until 6pm. Great. Actually, it was fine because the people were a good laugh and we did a couple of stops at some random markets where the bus driver gets commission if we buy anything. We had a little fight with the driver cause he kept stopping at travel agents trying to get us to buy Laos visas off them for more than the price at the border, because then he gets commission. When we refused, he took a strop and started driving really erratically from then on.

We arrived into Chiang Khong at around 6pm and went straight to the guesthouse which was basic but perfectly fine. Once again we were tried to buy a visa but we were having none of it. We all went to bed early anticipating the boat trip to follow.

We were all up early again to go to the border crossing and this went smoothly and was much cheaper than at any travel agent. Needless to say we were very pleased with ourselves for standing our ground. After being stamped out of Thailand, we got a short boat ride over to Laos where we got stamped in. The we boarded a long boat that would be home for the next 2days. This boat can fit about 150 people sitting, and i reckon there were about 200 people on the boat. The seats are wooden and lined up so that there is pretty much no leg room and they are probably the most uncomfortable woodenbenches you have ever sat on. So, teh 2 days passed relatively slowely as we all tried to find a position that didnt kill our backs.

Halfway through the trip we stopped at a place called Pak Beng for the night. It was adequate (but for 100baht a night you can't really complain!) and a group of us went out for a nice dinner. What wasn;t so great was the electrical storm later on that shut off all power! It was an experience.

Day 2 on the boat was pretty much the same as day 1 and we arrived into Luang Prabang at 6pm. Luang Prabang is such a lovely quaint town and i'm going to spend a few days here to chill out. The main street is lined with lovely antique shops and smart restaurants that only cost about 3 pounds for a meal. The guesthouse that i am staying at only have 4 rooms, so a group of us are all staying there which is nice.

Hope all is good at home

love Danielle xxx