7 hour bus trip from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong which is on the Thai side of the border with Laos. As it was our first road trip in Thailand we thought we would travel in comfort and take the minivan. I suppose it differs from the local buses in that you're not sitting on a sack of rice and under a couple of chickens, a goat and a child. What it does mean, however, is that you're at the complete mercy of the driver who is often running several 'businesses' at o...

After 3 days in the jungle we were pretty knackered so thought we'd have a lazy day. Late start and after some brekkie/brunch we booked our trip to Laos. Leave tomorrow by bus to Chiang Khong, overnight stay, cross the border into Laos and two days (stopping overnight in Pak Beng) on a slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabeng. Had a stroll to the local's market, which was an experience, and then crossed the river Ping and found a nice riverside bar where we tho...

After a varied sleep, including frequent visits from the camp dog who insisted on sleeping on Lis's feet, we were presented with yet another breakfast which Bill didn't eat. Despite coaxing from Lis it would seem that egg whites are still off the menu. Nay bother, it was quickly becoming evident that today's programme would be significantly less taxing when the hardcore Frenchies cracked their first Chang an hour into the trek! Respect comes in many forms. We co...

Day 2 and while having breakfast (some extremely strong coffee or very weak tea, scrambled egg on toast and Pineapple - different) Off tells us that the "guitar man" was supposed to have provided some entertainment last night but somehow got delayed trekking from the next village (3 hours away, in the dark, in the jungle, with his guitar - mad). Also, he explains the itinerary for today - Oh my Bhudda, there's lots of trekking but at least most of it is downhill....

As the last entry said "early to bed so ready for some light exercise tomorrow" - better have 1 for the road then! 4 large Changs and a couple of JD's later we thought was ideal preparation - wrong. Up early, check out (sorry we have no vacancy for when you back - ah), on with the backpack (this seems heavier, might need to do some laundry) and then off to the truck. We leave Chiang Mai, 12 of us set off (4 Brits, 4 French, 2 Germans & 2 Slovakians) plus our ...