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7/9/2011:
This was a long days travel to Luang Prabang in Loas. We departed Vang Vieng at 7am all feeling pretty rough. We were suppose to arrive in the next city at around lunchtime but were severly delayed due to the mudslides that have been happening in Loas. We were waiting by the first mudslide for about 2 hours and the second for about an hour. A lot of travellers had become impatient and were trying to climb over the hills to the annoyance of the locals trying to fix the roads. Luckilly our tour guide knew just to wait for the right oppurtunity and break in the rain to shoot accross. We finally arrived at our destination at about 5pm, quickly chucked our bags in the hotel and went out for street food at the local market. No one really enjoyed dinner as everyone was feeling a bit shattered so we had a quick shop around the market. A few of us decided to have our own little secret santa (aptly named twaty traveller) and for the princely sum of 20,000 kip (around 2.5 quid) had to by something horrid for the others to wear the next day. I was given a chick's pair of sunglasses by Drew, he was given a tiny pink vest by Steve and I gave Steve a local wolly hat which was pretty mean considering the temperature. Drew especially hated his vest as he stated a few hours before "there is many things I would rather do then wear a vest, one of them is rape a cat!" - bluff called mate, sorry!
The evening ended with a very early night so we were fresh for tomorrow.
8/9/2011:
Today we went elephant trekking which was awesome. First we rode the elephants in baskets and then rode then bareback down to the river to wash them. The whole experience lasted for 2 hours and cost only $50. The elephant I rode down to the river was massive so I was kinda s***ting myself and covered in sweat. After we went to a waterfall with a natural swimming pool. This was the perfect place to reflect on the morning and enjoy a cold beer. We messed about in the pool and climbed the waterfall to jump in off the tyre swing.
After we went for lunch with our CEO and had a few hours downtime. I was still feeling a little off but nothing like the previous few days.
Before dinner we took an evening cycle tour of the city. It was bar far the most amusing bike ride I have ever been on. We were crashing in to each other for the whole time and made the tour guide cry with joy. We tried cobra/snake wine which was rank! Eventually we broke a bike and muggins here had to tow the tour guide home - uphill!
We went to a locals house for dinner (Mr Khon) were we enjoyed local delicasies being buffalo, duck blood and Laap which is minced stomach with veg. After several beers and a few whiskeys we returned to our hotel.
9/9/2011:
We were suppose to start the day with a 5am start so we could see the monks but this was too early for most of the group, including me although I did attempt to get up. Later at about 7am we boarded a private boat which would be taking us to the next city that night and the next. I spent the day taking in the breathtaking scenery and reading. We stopped at lunchtime to see a hill tribe and take a look around their village.
We arrived in Pak Beng in the evening and went for dinner and a beer before an early night. I tried some takeaway goat - tasted good!
10/9/2011:
We continued on our slowboat to Chiang Kong, the day was again spent watching the world go by, reading and listening to music. We had a feast of a lunch on the boat made by the captains wife.
We arrived at the Thai / Loas border in the mid afternoon and took a boat accross the Mekong to get back into Thailand. We got a tuk tuk up to our hotel and went for a quick walk around the city. We grabbed some Pad Thai to share as a group before dinner and after dinner stayed up talking to Long while drinking rum.
11/9/2011:
We boarded a bus in the Morning to Chiang Mai which would take around 4 hours. This was broken up by stops at the White Temple, Cashew nut house and Tiger Kingdom. At tiger kingdom we got to play with baby tiger cubs which were about 6 - 8 weeks old and big tigers which were about 20 months old. I am not gonna lie but I was s***ting myself pretty much the whole time as these things are bloody wild animals! However, the experience was fantastic and we got to hug th tigers without getting so much as a scratch.
We went for lunch and had a quick look around the old town and market before boarding our overnight train to Bangkok. This was the worst night train we had been on and the toilet was disgusting. However the food we had was good value and tasted fantastic. We decided to go to bed early and hopefully wake up in Bangkok...
12/9/2011:
...This was not the case. Due to the flooding in northern thailand the train had to stop for two hours and we were further delayed by another two hours. The flooding was so bad that the water was virtually on the tracks. The train finally arrive into Bangkok at noon. We went straight for lunch and then after dropping our bags off at the hotel (where it all started 30 days ago) we went on a speed boat tour of the city. After the boat tour we went to a temple housing giant buddhas.
That evening we had our fairwell party in Koh San road. Dinner consisted of street food - pad thai - as we were all far to focused on the farewell drinks. We shared a couple of buckets and hit a few different bars in the area. The favourite was a bar with a live thai band playing western songs, they were surprisingly great and the evening was spent dancing away - a perfect place to end the trip. That evening we said our goodbyes to Long who truly had been an incredible tourguide. The amount of effort that this guy had put in was unbelievable. Even more the fact that this guy gives a ridiculous proportion of his salary to charity just shows what type of human being he is. He always made sure that we spent our money in the places that needed it the most.
To sum up the tour was fantastic and I would recommend anyone going on one! Over the last month I have learnt a lot and am now starting to look at things slightly differently.
13/9/2011:
Finally a lay in! I awoke at 10am and scuttled down to catch the end of breakfast. I caught Steve popping out for a beer to sort himself out as he got in at 6 and still looked drunk. After breakfast I had a nap until check out time when I awoke Drew and Steve as I would be travelling down to the islands with Drew. I had been relatively behaved the previous night and got in at three but these two got smashed and were feeling it today. Drew was acting like an ill child which was hilarious and only really sobered up that evening. After some encouragement me and Drew made our way to our hotel on Koh San road. We spent the day chilling out until dinner when we met back up with Steve to say goodbye. We had a beer or two before we went back to the hotel to chillout and watch a few fils as we were all knackered.
14/9/2011:
After another deserved lay in we got a tuk tuk to MBK (mall of Bangkok), this was almost free ias we agreed to visit two tailor shops on the way. It was a bit of a hassle as they were arsy b******s but its nice to get something for nothing out here for once. After we headed back to Koh San Road for some more street Pad Thai and spent the afternoon chilling out. We checked out of the hotel in the evening and grabbed a few drinks before our night bus to the coast of Thailand so we could catch a ferry to Koh Samui. The night bus was big and modern but uncomfortable.
15/9/2011:
We arrived at the port in the early hours and got on the ferry at about 7am. The ferry was a new catamaran and was really fast and comfortable.We got to Koh Samui at about 12ish and transferred to Chaweng. We searched for a hotel and found one which was reasonable but with an arsey owner.
In the afternoon we went to the beach for lunch, a dip in the sea and a sunbath. The beach is beautiful and the sea is warm and sandy. It is one of the nicest beaches I have been too.
In the evening we had a few drinks in the room. Drew bought two bottle of what he thought was beer, it turned out to be a Cinzanzo like drink which was forced down as quickly as possible. We headed out and after some dinner at a market and a beer in a bar we headed to the beach with some home made buckets. The evening was spent smoking Hooka and sipping on the buckets. We were rather drunk by midnight so stumbled back to the hotel.
16/9/2011:
We awoke with our heads in tact and headed to the market for breakfast. After a wonder around the market we headed back down to the beach for another day in the sun. In the afternoon I went back to the room for a lay down as the sun had got to me a little bit - its ok though I just needed some sleep and am tip top right now as I write this. We are heading off out again tonight and to Koh Phangan tomorrow at lunchtime.
Anyway best go but hope you are all well. I should have more time to speak to you all now as I wont be as busy and my days will consist of lozzing around on beaches.
Take care,
Aaron
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