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So some odd things I have noticed in Lao so far - firstly the men have at least one long fingernail. I'm not sure why, it just looks weird, but I intend to find out why soon! Also there are no safety rules here in Laos, a bit like Thailand. Just jump on a rubber ring and float down the river, no warning of rocks or anything, no safety talk caving, tubing nor did we have anything for the zip wire or scooters in Thailand. They just happily let us get on with everything! It feels much freer without all the rules and regulations you get back home, I am actually enjoying it! People seem to get on fine without them here, as far as I am aware anyway! I haven't seen any tragic accidents, apart from hearing about people killing themselves tubing, but that only happens when they get smashed and jump off bridges into water that's less than a metre deep - well, dur, of course you are going to hurt yourself, or die! There were a few rocks that you had to look out for so you didn't destroy your butt but apart from that it was pretty calm. Maybe the river was calmer as it's not in wet season at the moment, so I guess I can't comment how dangerous it can be in the wet season.
The staff in Central Backpackers in Vang Viene were crazy, annoying! They also ruined my washing, all my whites came out stained so I can't really wear them. I wasn't too happy so paid a little less for the room after having an argument. The bus journey to Vientiane was surprisingly good. We chilled out all morning and said our goodbyes to Natasha and the Oz guys and jumped on the bus. It only took 3 and a half hours. The seats were comfortable, a guy stood up the whole way as there weren't enough seats and they kept letting locals on too, so they found any random seat that popped out from anywhere and sat on that. It is so odd how I haven't had any back problems at all since I have been travelling - my posture is in fact a great deal worse as I have to find any comfortable position to sleep in and it's usually a terrible posture I end up in! The only thing I can think of is that I am not sitting at a desk 7 hours a day! It's the first time I actually had a bad stomach the morning we were getting the bus to Vientiane, but luckily I have not had any problems since. A guy called Jack (who I met in Bangkok) was really ill with the s***s. He ended up being in hospital on a drip for 2 days it got so bad and he lost so much weight, but luckily he pulled through and is in Vietnam enjoying himself now. I have been on the anti-malaria tablets now for over a week and I haven't reacted badly to them yet - I'm SO pleased! A girl who I met in Pai tried taking Doxycycling (which is the cheapest anti-malaria tablets which I am on) and she was vomiting every time she took a pill so gave up taking them. Lots of people aren't bothering to take them at all anyway, it's almost half and half who are making the effort to take them, and those who have got them are generally on Malerone, a more expensive pill (like £2 per pill as opposed to £0.19 per pill).
Ops I have gone off on one - sorry. So Vientiane Backpackers was the hostel Lucy and I stayed in, along with Mhedi who followed. The place was fine, clean enough with good toilets and powerful and warm shower so I can't really complain. They had bottles of vodka in the fridge for anyone to take - free vodka, mental! I didn't try any as I was still feeling a little run down so decided to be good and avoid it. Everyone in the hostel was a little bit odd I must admit - older people were there, people just stared too and laughed. It was all very strange so glad I had Lucy there - I felt a little safer. It's actually the first time I have been in a hostel that isn't filled with youths! Some man was 50 years old and only had 1 tooth - he slept beneath me (ahh scary! But at least he didn't snore!) Lucy, Mhedi and I headed out to see the night market. Bumped into Connor who is an American guy we met in Spicy Laos. He's cool enough. Such a small world as I am constantly bumping into people I have met in previous locations you actually never feel alone! I then headed to the night market with Lucy and Mhedi who decided to join us. He was a fireman in France in the army so he was telling us about his very regimented routine in his job - he loved the job itself but hated the lack of freedom - having to shave every day, hair has to be a certain length on the side and top, no piercings, no tattoos showing, not able to leave the country without permission, no time for a social life, he had to clean the room and kitchen every day, 2 hours of gym work a day, 2 hours of book work, he would sometimes end up working 3 days without any sleep depending on the calls he had. So after being in a job like this he was loving the freedom of travelling and was considering quitting the job entirely and doing some adventure work instead. I managed to get a pair of shorts at the night market for about £2 which was great but what wasn't great was the fact that I could only fit into an X-large! Not too happy about that but I didn't feel too bad when Lucy couldn't fit into x-large! Hehe. We have gone from best travel buddies to enemies. Lol. Only joking, I love that girl - we are a little to similar it is scary. She actually reminds me of Rosie (that's you Rosie Clarke!) After that Mhedi was getting hungry and as we all know (yes mum you will know for sure) hungry men are not happy men, so we quickly headed for some street food. I had noodle soup, and the others had a rice dish with a load of green leaves, and even more green leaves! Luckily the lady came over to show them to fill the leaf with the rice and add a bit of herb leaf too! It was full of flavour and really refreshing. I was a little jealous. Still not feeling right, Lucy and Mhedi walked me home and I jumped into bed at 9pm! It did me good to sleep lots and I have been ok since J
Next day I said bye to Lucy but I knew I would see her when I arrived in Hanoi so it was just a "see you tomorrow" send off. Then Mhedi and I decided to be a little adventurous and escape the usual tourist route with a homestay. We checked out and jumped on a tuk tuk type bus that took us 2 hours out of the city. Just before we left a girl called Johanna jumped on. I met her doing the Kayaking and Caving day in Vang Viene and she had the same idea so there was 3 of us to stick together and try and find this place. 2 and a bit hours later we got thrown off the tuk tuk and the driver pointed in the direction we should go. We realised it was at least another 7km away so decided to attempt the hitch hiking style of travelling. Eventually a big truck driver stopped and let us grab a free ride. We all hopped in the front squashed with all our bags too. Got dropped off and ended up walking another 2k down a long dusty road. Now this is the moment you really wish you were travelling light! We arrived at a village, and managed to find a man who let us stay. So the people weren't at all friendly, they hardly made any effort to interact with us as we walked around the town, they just really didn't seem that bothered which was really disappointing. So we had a walk around the village once we dumped our stuff in our room and then just chilled out until they served us dinner at 7pm. Dinner consisted of a tough chicken (which we heard being shot an hour before), sticky rice (extremely sticky you just pick it up with your hands and roll it into a ball), a soup dish and an omelette (really good!). We tucked into the food and ate until we felt stuffed. Again, the Laos people did not eat with us. We then watched a bit of Laos TV as they were whilst the family we were around were sitting on the floor in their shop/room/lounge area. It seemed to be a Thai channel they were watching - all very cheesy and terrible! The music didn't go with the scene at all it was really quite funny how bad the program was. I drew a terrible picture of the little boy who was sat watching TV and handed it to him but he didn't seem to impressed. He came back with some sweets instead so I wasn't complaining. As there were no street lights or anything when the sun went down at about half 5, everyone chilled out for a bit watching tele and then headed to bed so it was an early night for us. We tried watching a film on my laptop but we all fell asleep within 10 minutes so I turned it off. This travelling is so tiring! Lol. The room was littered with all sorts of random things, toys, furniture, a bit of bedding on the floor for us and they had a mosquito net up for us too. The bed was actually quite comfortable, more comfortable than the previous 2 hostel beds I stayed in. The next day I was up and out at 7am, slightly concerned that I wouldn't get back to Vientiene in time to catch my flight. It took just over 3 and a half hours to get to this random village in the middle of nowhere, I didn't know how I was to get back and how long it was going to take me so I didn't want to risk it and started extra early. My flight was at 2.40pm so I had to be at the airport at 12.40pm. Luckily there was a tuk tuk bus thing driving around the village beeping its horn so I waved it down and said Vientiene. This old dude didn't seem too encouraging about this, but he nodded so I got in. I ended up waiting in the village for about half an hour, the bus gradually filling up with a load of school kids who appeared from out of nowhere! It was so random. They just smiled at me and a couple of kids tried practising their English with me which was sweet. The longer we waited the more I thought how long are we going to wait here! Eventually he started driving and after a few other random stops to let some more school kids on, we were heading in the right direction for me to get back to Vientiene. We got to the end of the 7k road and the tuk tuk driver told me to jump off. Well at least I got somewhere! That was the bit we had to do the hitch hiking so I knew I would be able to find a bus heading to Vientiene from this main road. I started walking back and asked a few people on the way...they either laughed or pointed in the right direction. I soon managed to stop a tuk tuk which was going into the town, I was relieved and jumped on! It only took 1 and a half hours to get back to the town so I was there in plenty of time to my delight. I headed back to the town centre and managed to find Jona's cafe, the cafe we found in Luang Prabang that was like a Starbucks. I treated myself to a ham and egg toasted bagel - it was good! And I had wi-fi too, it was heaven! Although I hadn't showered for 2 days, I didn't want to upset anyone with any bad smells, but I didn't notice any bad stares as I walked past people J An on the flight I went to Hanoi to meet Lottie (who text saying her flight was a little late so I may arrive before her after all)! Whoop.
If you have read to the end of this...and have read all my other blogs - i'm dead impressed! Give yourself a pat on the back, and again, sorry for the terrible spelling mistakes that Lottie has kindly been pointing out to me! :) Love ya'll xxxxxxxx
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