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Andrew's Travels
Hello....and apologies for the lack of updates over recent weeks. The only excuse I can give is much of my time in Laos was spent without internet access and in some cases even electricity. Secondly, I guess there hasn't been too much to report as I have to confess to having being doing a great deal of nothing.
My last update was from Luang Prabang where we spent a week...doing very little, watching lots of movies, hanging out by the river and tubing. For the uninitiated, tubing consists of jumping in a tractor inner tube and floating down the river for 3 hours with numerous riverside bars along the way to keep you suitably refreshed with Beer Laos......a great way to spend an afternoon!
After Luang Prabang we carried on south to Vang Vieng where we spent 4 or 5 days....again doing very little other than wondering around the "city" and recovering from the journey there. Next stop was Pakse which was really just an overnight stop before heading south again to Si Pha Don - the 4000 Islands. Here we had a couple of nights on Don Khong before continuing the journey down to Don Det. Don Det was my favourite place....a simple wooden hut on the river bank was home and of a morning, it must have been all of 5 steps from my bed and in to my hammock. The days would end with a few beer Laos and a BBQ of fresh fish watching the sunset....life was simple but good!!!
After I time in Don Det we travelled back up to Pakse and then west crossing back in to Thailand at the overland border crossing of Chong Mek. From there we headed back to Bangkok...cheating a little as we stopped in Ubon overnight and then flew to Bangkok.......it was a more appealing option than a 12 hour overnight train!
Whilst in Bangkok the tourist got the better of me and we went to the shopping arcades, Sea World and the theme park Dream World!
We also took a camping trip to Koh Yai National Park sleeping under the stars for a night in the company of monkeys, elephants deer and tigers....the government did guarantee tigers would not be joining us in our campsite though! It was refreshing to spend time in a quite, tranquil environment after the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.
After a couple more days in Bangkok, we have now moved on Kanchanaburi.....where I more or less started back at the end of November....so I have been full circle now! This time around we will be here for a little longer than I was before and we have a great little guest house.....staying on little raft houses floating on the river Kwai! Again, it is a great place to relax, watch the world go by and enjoy the wildlife. The little deck area adjoining my room houses my pets....an array of fish, a stork, lots of dragon flies and we even had a visit from a 1 metre long monitor lizard the other afternoon....which came as a bit of a surprise and made a bit of a splash! The good news......no mosquito's!
I will be heading back to Bangkok this weekend...we are going to see some English bands playing at the Bangkok 100 festival on Saturday and Sunday.
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