Kilroy Blogs is such a t*** it just lost all of my blog.... so I'm starting again. It was sadly some of my best : ) but unfortunately you will have to make do with this more condensed account. Anyway first of all, Happy Birthday to my Dad. Would've been great to have tested out the new bbq with you. I'll buy you a beer when I see you in August. And Happy Baby to Charlotta and Erik. Emma and I are very excited to see him. Also, I wanted thank everyone for their comments to date. Especially Bez who has been relentless in his pisstaking (you I know it's just cause you're at a safe distance old boy).

We're in Vientiane, Loas at present, and are just concluding our flying 2 week visit to the country. We managed to get ripped off within the first 5 minutes as usual. A phenomena which is labelled 'learning money'. Still it's some consolation that we're being ripped off in Laos own currency, Kip, as opposed to a borrowed currency like the dollar as in Cambodia (I understand the reasons for this - but it's still weird and inflates costs). First stop was Si Phan Don or 4000 islands. It's a bit like Waterworld with all the stilted houses and platforms but without Kevin Costner. It's beautiful - only gripe about this place was the people (who since then have been the most welcoming on our journey). The strain of making even a facial expression in recognition of people's presence was clearly too much for most. I understand they may not want to be your 'friend' but if you step into their shop they could at least faciliate the buying of their products. If you don't want customers then don't build a shop or a guest house and save yourself the effort. I guess they prefered it beforehand. Seeing all 4000 islands is a bit of a stretch so limited ourselves to Dom Det and Don Khong, walking round Det on the first day and cycling round Khong on the second on some very attractive shopping cycles (with baskets) that put my old lilac 'town and country' bike to shame in the camp stakes. Laos is in the midst of one of their hottest summers and it was 40 or thereabouts during our visit. So dipping in the river was a welcome respite. Ran out of money as no cash points on the islands so had to speed past the checkpoint on the bridge linking Det and Khong (5 dollar return). A bit steep and the bridge was in a state of disrepair so I think the funds just paid the salary of the man who collected the toll. We compared sweat patches with the various people we'd bumped into that day in the bar over a cold Loas and a great sunset.

From Si Phan Don it was a short hop to the Bolaven Plateau. Cooler, more elevated it is home to waterfalls, forest and Arabica coffee plantations. Used a local guide to explore the area. He was a bit like a Laos Ray Mears in that he had given up the extreme stuff, put on a few pounds and now just wanders around eating bush-tucker. Liked him immediately. Didn't recognise much of the stuff we were eating but lots of citrus and plum like fruits, plus the coffee beans in the plantations which were surprisingly sweet. Ended up at a kind of oasis with a large waterfall. Locals set up a coffee stall and had a domesticated mammal that was like a red panda only larger and brown, similar to the garden bear found in the home counties of the UK (see photo). England against USA that night but no TV in the sticks. Texted Tabor for the result who said it was 1-0 Gerrard scoring so went to bed content only to find it ended 1-1 when I eventually found an internet cafe. I guess consolationary beers on a warm summer Saturday night were in effect after the USA goal.

Went onto another spot called Tat Lo (Tat meaning waterfall). On the bus stopped for pineapples and durian fruits. I put in a request for a pork pie / scotch egg stop but was met with blank looks. The food on our travels has been excellent and extremely varied but I occassionally crave stodge (in which not many countries can beat the UK - steak and kidney pudding, beef and ale pie with a pint of guiness, bangers and mash with onion gravy, a medium rare steak with bearnaise sauce and a decent red, fish and chips!!!). Emma is missing cheddar and avocado sandwiches - no comment. An excellent day exploring the river and it's waterfalls with the local kids. Emma got chased by a pig and hence pigs have been added to the list of creature to be feared and avoided. We chilled in the evening with a very entertaining Dutch couple. The guy was called Eric - thereafter to be known as 'magic Eric' and had a disfunctional mind reading party trick. They also extolled the virtues of the Dutch 'snack wall' which is like a vending machine with burgers and other meat products. I want one. Only other excitement was smashing a gecko with a flip flop (I'm not for killing animals but the gecko is pretty near the top of Emmas aforementioned list). It's tail fell off which I understand to be a defense mechanism, which distracts the predator while the gecko escapes with the rest of it's body intact. It was a pointless exercise in this case though as I had hit it on the head.

Final stop was Luang Prabang which is arguably one of South East Asia most attractive cities and a World Heritage site. Went kayaking, fed elephants, watched the England vs Algeria game. The only consolation having had to stay up till 04:30 to watch the game was that we'd had so many beers waiting we couldn't see most of what was one of the most sorry games of football ever.

The next blog will probably be our last as we now only have 5 weeks left. We land in Borneo day after tomorrow and from there onto Sulawesi. Back in London on 30th July for the weekend so hope to see most of you then.

Ciao for now,
Chris and Emma