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hello everyone!
sorry its been a while but internet (well any form of power really) has been difficult to come by in laos!
so we left you last on our way to hue in vietnam. hue for most people is just a place to rest for a day before you head to hanoi but we spent a few days there and really enjoyed it. the main reason for that is because we both stayed in our first proper hostel in a double bed dormitory (i can't believe charlie agreed to that either!). it had only been open 11 days so everything was really new and clean and there was a great atmosphere. between 5 and 6pm everyday the owner was giving away free beer which explains the pictures of me chanting to the whole place from on top of the bar! everytime you bought a drink you also had to throw a dart at a dartboard n drink whatever shot you landed on. we met some really cool people and had a great night at the local club (i travelled there driving a cyclo as you can see from the pictures...very cool!) hue wasn't just about the hostel and drinking however (pretty much though), we had a really nice walk around and visited the citadel which is an amazing walled-empire...very interesting place.
from hue we then travelled to the capital of vietnam, hanoi. terrible journey on a bus falling to pieces with no air con...lovely! im sure you've established this for yourselves by now but accommodation is key in these places and we once again we found a superb room (probably the best yet). it was fully kitted out with samsung tv and even a samsung computer with free internet!!! hanoi is a crazy place...its amazing how different it is to saigon...far less developed and even busier. luckily charlie is a living tom-tom because i just couldn't get to grips with the place. the thing to do when you get to hanoi is to actually leave the place briefly and go to halong bay (which we did). i'm sure you've seen the pictures by now and i'm sure you'll agree that it is an amazing place. locals are trying to get it recognised as a new wonder of the world. we shopped around a found a good company to go with. there was so many to choose from but we made a great decision. the boat was amazing and the food was out of this world. there was too much if anything! we kayaked around the bay and jumped off the boat and had a swim. at night we had a crazy karaoke night with some great pictures once again....terrible sounds though! halong bay was a great couple of days. we returned to hanoi and a horrible lady on reception at the great hotel had messed up our booking so we were messed around about but ended up in a better room for the same price eventually! we spent the rest of our time in hanoi eating great food (vietnamese KFC) and shopping around the markets.
from hanoi we sadly left vietnam (our favourite country so far) and headed to vientiane in laos. the journey is infamous and it didn't let us down. first of all we were stranded at the bus station for an hour, then somebody tried to steal charlie's passport and that's before we even got on the bus. the bus itself was actually ok...except for the fact that it was packed with nappies for babies and old people! there was also a lady sat next to me with a live turkey in her bag that kindly screamed everytime i just got to sleep and she definitely had bird flu and robbed a plastic bag from us to be sick in at one point...nice! the journey took 22 hours with a border crossing that went better than expected. the bus didn't leave us like we had heard and it was quite a professional operation. the journey was boosted by the fact we shared the experience with 9 other 'falangs' (means 'french', all asians call all white people this and they think we smell of eggs apparently!) that all got shoved to the back of the bus and ignored the whole way. anyway we arrived safely in vientiane and checked into a great hotel with a great atmosphere, free breakfast and free tea and cake! all the other falangs joined us so it was a great laugh. we had a group dinner at the local indian, watched the wimbledon final and made federer headbands and the night after we went bowling...lao style! bowling was an amazing experience...loads of drunken lao people...great music...great times! during the day in vientiane me and charlie went for a bike ride to the different temples and it decided to throw it down with rain which was a giggle. again vientiane is not a place people have tended to rave about but we loved it!
after vientiane it was time to visit the infamous vang vieng! we went on a hair-raising mini bus journey around the mountains but again arrived safely. we checked into a very cheap but clean and ideal hotel owned by the local indian restaurant owner. when we were settled we went to check out the place...easily the strangest place i've been to. the place itself is beautiful...amazing scenery with huge mountains etc. but in the heart are a load of falangs sitting on cushions watching friends and drinking 'happy' shakes and eating 'happy' pizzas (lets just say they have extra ingredients). the real reason we were there however was...TUBING! what an experience!!! basically there are about 6 bars down a stretch of river selling buckets of whiskey and playing really loud music and the idea is to get as drunk as possible...jump off rope swings into the river and then 'float' on a tube from bar to bar and ultimately try not to die. when i say float bare in mind it is the rainy reason so the river was 2 metres higher than normal and it was foaming it was that fast. nobody wears life jackets and we were advised not to even buy a tube and to just steal one. we ended up just swimming down the river...great fun but madness! but we're alive and well with minor cuts and bruises so no need to worry! it was so good we went back the next day with some friends who had just arrived. our friend nathan ended up in hospital after falling off a bar into the river and splitting his foot open but he's ok now. anyway we now have t-shirts to celebrate staying alive!
from vang vieng we took a 'vip' bus to where we are now...luang prabang. the bus was again terrible and very scary as they don't seem to brake around corners. anyway we made it alive again! luang prabang is a very very nice place. so different to vang vieng...it is full of rich older people who sit in nice cafes all day. it is exactly what we needed though! a great chance to chill out and recover. we have a lovely room but there is building work next door which likes to wake us up at 8am every morning. it's the best place we could find though and the room is so nice! so far we have visited the royal museum and some magnificent temples. we have also walked around the night market which charlie loves (quite expensive though...they aren't shy). we also ate at a vegetarian buffet for 30p each...twice! the first time because we wanted to and the second because there was a power cut from 6am to 6pm and the atm's have been down for 2 days so we were skint! last night we had a traditional loas bbq and then went bowling!! again it was a great night but this one was full of drunken falangs...not as cool! tomorrow we're going to visit a waterfall and then on sunday we fly to chang mai in thailand. yes we are cheating and flying! it just makes sense because the boat is a nightmare and we save money on getting a visa.
anyway this probably takes the record for the longest blog ever but i had a lot of time to cover! hope everyone is ok (dad i want to skype with everyone again at some point so try and arrange it if you can please...grandad and grandma too!) and we'll update you again when we get chance. charlie is adding pictures as we speak!
love to everyone xxxxx
ps excuse any bad spelling or missing letters...using an antique laos keyboard!
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