Hey hey!!!

Ok, i will first start with the journey to and from the Loas border! It was a ball ache to say the least. It took us around 6hrs to arrive in Chiang Kong, which is the border town in Thailand through to Loas. We had our food and accomodation included with the mini bus ride, which was a bonus as there was not much choice on offer in terms of food stalls or restuarants in Chiang Kong. We had our meal alongside the impressive Mekong River and all was dandee! Later on that night i found out that the bloody Green curry i had eaten was a little dodgy and so i did not get a wink of sleep until midday the next day! Stu was ok so he went on and i stayed over a extra night as a 2-day slow boat ride along the Mekong River whilst ill would not be a good idea! It was cool tho as there was another group travelling the next day, so we had a right laugh that night!

It was 35 U.S dollars to recieve a Loas visa, which lasted 1 month!That is the only one on offer which was s*** as we was only intending to stay in Loas for a around a week!! So i took the slow boat along the huge Mekong River (i think it is the 2nd largest river in the world??). It was great as we had a good group of people my age, so the time passed quickly as the boat was selling BeerLoas. This beer is nice and cheap, for a large bottle (1.5 pints) it costs around 50p!!!! So naturally it was a pleasant trip. As you can see from the pics it was set within huge mountains and gorgeous scenery.

Afer the 2 day trip, we finally arrived in Vang Vieng! Since the start of our trip we have been looking forward to this place as everywhere we went people was talking about it! It's a small city with around 20,000 people living here. It's basically got 2 main roads, one for the guesthouses and the other for the many bars and restuarants! The first night we met up with a few other lads and checked the bars out! There is only really 2 bars where all the Westerners go, the Oooohh Laa Laaa bar and the Sunset bar set by the river. All offering their wide range of 'special' menus and shakes!!!! It really cool here as you can meet everyone here in these 2 bars! Everyone does the same thing, get wrecked at nights, and then go tubing in the day time, which also involves the beer! The tubing is awesome, theres around 20 bars alongside the river, and whenever you want to stop for a beer, the locals throw rops and long bamboo sticks to help you in! Theres 15m jumps and massive swings into the river which really s*** you up as the climb up is the worst part! (see pics). So by the end of the day everyone's mashed! The scenery around the river is stunning, it is exactly like Jurassic Park! Lush green mountains with green flats, and if you've eaten from the 'special' menus you will think theres dinosaurs aswell!!

So were now gonna head off 2mora, off to the capital of Loas, Vietniane! Theres a few of us travelling together now so its alot more fun! Were not hanging around there as we really want to get to Vietnam (Hanoi i think), and it takes 24 hours on the bus so thats gonna be a killer journey! Heard about the attempted bombings, glad they caught some of the b******s!!! So, thanks for all the messages people, its always great to hear from you all! Keep sending the comments and messages! Hope your all well and taking care!! Will write once weve had a few days chilling on the lush white sanded beaches of Vietnam!!! Laterz Chick

p.s. Happy Birthday Kate!Hope the cancer ward aint gettin ya down too much! Did ya get my card??