Laos

After another 8 hours on the boat on the Mekong River we arrived at our next stop... LuangPrang. We have 3 nights here which is great as we are all a bit knackered from the travelling.

On our first day we visit the local museum to find about more about the local culture, very interesting. In the afternoon we headed off to the bear sanctuary and the Kuang Sui waterfall. After a very bumpy ride we arrive. Optimistically we have all put on our swimming stuff in case it's warm enough for a quick dip. The waterfalls were stunning and the small pools/lagoons were a beautiful turquoise colour, BUT absolutely freezing. Mandy and Bob took the plunge first, then the rest of the group followed including me. I figured it couldn't be as cold as the sea in Devon! I think it would be fair to say it was not warm, but very very refreshing! In the evening we went to a local families house for dinner and a blessing. The food was incredible, so far my favourite of the whole trip. We then headed to a bar, one thing to note about Laos is that they have a 10:30pm curfew - everything shuts down then. We had a few beers and made sure we had left enough time to get back, how responsible of us I thought. As we approached the hotel we heard music and I decided we should investigate - there could be an opportunity to soak up more of the local culture I thought. And yes we had indeed stumbled upon a street party and within 5secs we had been given beers and joined the party. It was great!

The next day we headed off to see the elephants, something I had bee really looking forward to. We fed them including the baby elephant, which was sooo cute. And then had an hours worth of trekking with was great. Really enjoyed this. Some pictures to follow.

We then arrived at a small village in vang vieng for the home stay after a 7 hr drive through some incredible bendy roads, it felt like the longest journey ever. The locals were all lovely, we ended up joining a wedding reception party that was going on - they are all so hospitable! Our host family were great. We all had dinner together and after the local school children did a dance display for us - then we had to join them! It's safe to say my coordination is still really bad. A really great night!

We left the village early the next day to go to our hotel in vang vieng. We spent the day tubing through the caves and then embarked on 4 hrs of kayaking down the river. It was such a fun day ( although quite knackering!) the scenery was absolutely stunning. A thoroughly enjoyable day and one of my favourites so far. We even managed to stay in the kayak as we went through the rapids. After the kayaking we went for some well deserved beers and more games of pool.

At 8am we departed for Vientiane. On route we meet another person from Essex! Today we went on a bike tour - can't remember the last time I cycled on the road. The roads here are crazy and the bikes we were on were just about road worthy, put it this way I couldn't go too fast as my brakes barely worked......and the cars and motorbikes, I swear they were aiming for me! We visited a few monuments ( more steps!) and more temples ( more steps again), it was a nice way to get around but not sure I will be getting on a bike for a while, there were a few scary moments, but well worth it.

We got hopelessly lost trying to find the group in the evening so ended up in another pool bar, where I actually nearly won a game, by the time I get back I night actually not be half bad at pool.

With a bit of a hangover we say bye to Laos and hello to Vietnam.

More to follow (once I've caught up, I am about a country behind!)

Hope everyone is well!

Lou x