Hey everyone!

I have been so busy this is the first time I've really been able to update my blog! I have done so much on this tour so far it's all a blur so I'll try and remember some of the things I've done :)

Thailand - After a tour of Bangkok and looking at the grand palace me and my roomate (Kate) had a manicure/pedicure before setting off on our overnight train to Chang Mai. Chang Mai is a nice city, smaller than Bangkok and less busy which was good. We did a cooking course which was alot of fun starting at the markets then going to a kitchen to cook 5 dishes. My favourite was the chicken and cashew nuts however I managed to set my frying pan on fire! two people came rushing towards me to put it out! It was a bit burnt but still tasted good :) The next day we headed off to Chang Rai where we visited some hilltribes which was fun with their colourful outfits and cute children. For dinner that eveing some people tried bugs (I managed to avoid these) we then went out to a Thai club which is very different to England, no one dances!! The next day we headed off to Laos...

Laos - To cross the border into Laos was funny, we had to get into small boats with our luggage on a separate boat and cross a river into Laos. From here we then went on a boat cruise up the Mekong river which was good except it was cold. Saw lots of animals along the way, buffalo, elephants etc and people living off the river in little huts so was very interesting. We had an overnight stop in Pakbang which was a tiny village of the river which was in the middle of no where. We sat outside talking until late at night and found all the power went out at 10.30 which explained the torches in the bedroom! After the boat cruise we went to Luangprobang which is a small, pretty town where we went on a cycle ride around it and went to a very nice bar in the evening. We got up early the next morning to feed the monks, this involved sitting with a bowl of sticky rice which we rolled up into small balls and around 300 monks in their orange outfits walked past and we had to put the rice in their bowls. After Luangprobang we went to VangVieng. This has been my favourite place so far, after so long away from western life it was so nice to be in what seemed the tourist/party place of Laos. The restaurants were themed by tv shows, eg there were Friends bars which would show reruns of Friends which I loved! And this town had a bar/club!! We went tubing the next day which is the main thing to do in this town, the river is lovely but the best part was that the river was lined with bars playing music, zip wires into the river and even a mud bar where you could play mud volleyball! After VangVieng we went to the capital, Vientien where we sepnt an evening and went to a restaurant run by street kids. Then next day we flew to Cambodia....

Also somewhere in Laos we rode elephants which was amazing, we went through the jungle, through a bit of a lake and through a small village. They even let us sit on the neck of the elephant with our legs behind the elephant's ears!

Cambodia - Immediately Cambodia contrasted to Thailand and Laos as being much poorer, alot more begging and more run down. Our first day we went to the Killing Fields which was quite shocking with bones still being on the ground, we even found teeth embedded in the ground. The next day we went somewhere else in Cambodia and went on a boat tour around floating villages, during this children would jump off boats trying to sell things, including coming onto the boat with a snake where you could pay 1 dollar to hold it! We went out that evening and randomly saw a show by victims of bombs in Cambodia which was good. The next day we went to Ankorwat temple to see the sunrise then saw more temples included one where Tomb Raider was filmed. Last night we had a big night out which was alot of fun with western music!! :D

Today we arrived in Vietnam after saying bye to the majority of the group and meeting new people joining the trip today. We're off for another boat cruise tomorrow which should be good, hopefully I'll update again soon!

Louise

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