One foot in the Mekong, Laos

We traveled into Laos along the Mekong River on the 'long boat' its called this just because it takes so bloody long to get to its destination, it was the cheapest option, however it took us two days on this skinny wooden ferry. The seats were wooden benches in rows very closely bunched together and the stupid thing was there weren't enough seats for everyone.Being polite as usual we let everyone else board before us so didn't have a seat for over ten hours of the first day. There's only one thing to do in this situation…. drink lots of Lao Beer.We gatherd some traverlers on board and played ring of fire although it was more of a long rectangle of fire due to the narrow area we had to sit in. It's so amusing teaching this game to foreign people when their English is limited. Anyhow,we found a great crowd to travel with toLuang Prabang and Vang Vieng.We were an interesting group, us with two American girls, a German girl, a Dutch couple and a Canadian guy. In Luang Prabang we saw the best waterfall yet and got a great picture of us all jumping off one of the falls. When we stood in the surrounding pools, little fish nibbled at our feet which gave us a weird tickling sensation.

' I just need to change the subject as I'm writing there is a guy next to me openly watching full screen hardcore porn in this public internet café lol.'

The signposts at the waterfall were very comical, one read 'swimming area' and another 'don't swimming area'.

The only place we could get a drink legally after ten o'clock in Luang Prabang was a sports facility, so bowling we went, and had an awesome time.

I experienced rice wine for the first time and there is a photo of me on Facebook just after I had a shot of it which is quite amusing.

Next stop was Vang Vieng for the notorious 'tubing' which we've herd is a must do in Laos. I'm going to explain tubing for those of you who haven't participated or heard about the drinking based activity game. It involves a river (the Mekong) hundreds of tractor inner tubes, bars, and dangerous activities. This was the most insane and fun experience I have ever been involved in. About 400 travelers (mostly British) show up at the first bar with their tubes and drink a few buckets of booze at 11am.To start there is a huge rope swing that ejects you into the oncoming current of the river.When you let go you fall about nine meters. I've climbed some high ladders before cleaning windows but I still needed a bucket before I dared to climb up to those rickety old wooden platforms. Before I climbed up I saw a guy with blood all over his face after he had tried to bomb into the water and kneed himself in the face.With everyone watching from the nearby bar Gary and I hit the water flat on our backs. I honestly thought I had broken my back when I was under the water!When I got out of the water my back was red raw and I was just winded luckily. It had to happen, a guy did a mangina on the swing!

After the fun at the first bar we got into our tubes and floated down the river till the Lao staff (usually twelve year old children) throw you a rope with a ring and pull you in to the next bar.Bar number two had a zip line running into the river. One of the funniest bars was the 'mud pit bar' with people wandering around covered in so much mud that they couldn't see this wilst dinking is a bad combination.We played tug of war and danced and drank, all the time covered in mud.

The first day we only made it to the fourth bar, the second day following me being violently sick (after consuming a huge greasy breakfast) we went tubing again.This time we made it all the way down the river.At the end the river spits of into two.If you take the right turning you end up in the middle on the jungle for 24 hours, as a English girl once found out. It really was one of the most fun things you can do but to be honest its insanely dangerous and we heard that a guy had died after hitting his head on one of the slides only months before and also climbing the slippery rocks drunk is just crazy.

The views of the mountains as you float down the river are truly spectacular but unfortunately, like the full moon party, its difficult to get photos as cameras get ruined in the carnage, however we managed to acquire a few.

We were really interested to learn about an almost unheard of war during 1964 where US bombers dropped more bombs on Laos than were dropped during the whole of the second world war!The type of bombs were called cluster bombs which mean's hundreds of subordinate bombs are ejected from the primary bomb before hitting the target which makes for a truly horrendous and devastating weapon. The war left much of Laos covered with unexploded ordinace which are still responsible for 10,000 deaths, mainly amongst children. We saw a great documentary, again which I recommend, about this war called 'Bombies'.

Traveling in a coach around Loas drove me insane as they play oriental music (I think its Thai) full volume all night long. The high pitched squealing doesn't seem to bother the locals as they just seem to sleep through it. If you come to Laos definitely bring ear plugs.

Its also very difficult to withdraw money as there are only four ATM machines in the entire country.We had to double back on ourselves for five hours in a coach just because we didn't get enough money out, woops!! The currency is in Laos is the Kip but you have to withdraw US dollars from ATMs, as the kip is to weak to operate solely.

We headed south to the Four Thousand Islands which are located in the Mekong River and from there we were able to see the real countryside and how the people live. One day I went for a long walk around the paddy fields and saw the locals using bamboo boxes to catch fish in the river I also saw an albino cow!Children seem to do the majority of the work here, whilst all the adults sleep. Whilst on the islands we saw fresh water dolphins, called the Irrawaddy Dolphins, we hsd to paid a local to take us out in the river to see their flat face's which were very amusing. The Four Thousand Islands were so cheap and it cost about one dollar for accommodation per night (about 63p). A litre bottle of vodka also cost a pound, and a joint cost 50p, you can even get 'special' pizzas made with magic mushrooms for next to nothing.

We also visited the capirtal Vientiane but apart from a scandinavien bakery not a great city. Laos is governed by a communist party and is a very poor contry but its amazing to see how laid back the locals are, when ordering food don't always expect to get it before they finish watching there faverate TV show.

See photos under Laos!!