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Hello all,
It has been a long time since my last blog post but that is because I have been extremely busy. I last left you in Vang Vieng with the intention of leaving Vang Vieng for Vientiane and then heading to Bangkok. Well that plan actually changed at the last minute. We were only supposed to spend 4 or 5 days in Vang Vieng but it ended up being 12 days. We had a sudden feeling of guilt wash over us. We had spent all this time in Laos in one place, in Vang Vieng, surrounded by Brits and we hadn't visited Luang Prabang - the World Heritage city. So we duscussed it and decided we would hire scooters and ride over to Luang Prabang, it is only 250 kilometers so we thought it wouldn't be a particularly difficult trip. We left a group of five, myself, Morgan, Monkey, Cal and Ty. We lost our first man half an hour into the journey. Monkey, after being knocked off his scooter in Vietnam by a bus was feeling understandable anxious about travelling all the way to Luang Prabang on one. He wasn't very confident on his bike and was struggling to keep up with the group. He decided that rather than slow us all down, he sacrificed himself and with dignity, bowed out. Morgan and I had waited with Monkey whilst he made this decision and the Canadians went on.
So the two of us hit the road, the scenery was spectacular, high, winding mountain roads with views across dense forested valleys. When climbing one particular mountain my moped started to labour and struggle, the engine wasn't ticking over properly and Morgan disappeared from view as I slowed. I was eager to catch Morgan so as it flattened out I accelerated off in an attempt to catch him, as I came round a corner and saw Morgan I hit a patch of gravel and my bike slide from underneath me. I took the skin off my knees, right elbow, right hip and toes. We decided to soldier on, we got my bike fixed at a little hut by the side of the road for 10,000 Kip (80 pence) and set off again. The roads became even more winding and steep, the driving was slow and arduous. And then the rain came. We were high up in the hills, near the mid point of our journey with snaking downhill roads to negotiate. The rain came down hard and the roads became treacherous. Morgan became the rains first victim. On a gentle downhill turn Morgan lightly applied his breaks and his moped's wheels slid out from underneath him in a blink of an eye. He escaped with only minor injuries, although his right elbow was badly cut up. We cracked on though with brave smiles on our faces. We stopped off at a small hut by the side of the road to get some water. The guys who were there showed great concern and bought out a bowl of hot water and iodine. I sat on a bench looking out over a stunning view and they started cleaning us up. I was trying to act brave like I wasn't hurting but the hot water was HOT. It burnt! They were giving my wounds a good scrub with the water then applying iodine. Morgan passed on the treatment for his elbow and I think it was a good shout. I started to get dizzy with pain. However, after they were done they bought us a little glass of beer, and someone turned up with a key board. They started playing and singing and waved us off on our journey. We had been travelling for another hour when I came off again. It had been raining and I gently applied the breaks and I suffered the same fate as Morgan. We had had enough. We were broken, we trundled on and slowly we drew up to Luang Prabang. When we saw the Welcome sign we were ecstatic, we drove in to the city and were instantly pulled over by the police. They fined us 100,000 kip for not wearing helmets dspite the fact no one on the road was wearing helmets. Great end to a great journey. We arrived at Luang Prabang at 18.30, it had taken over 7 hours. We were shattered. We found a hostel for a reasonable price, had a bite to eat and fell asleep. I woke up in the morning feeling like I had been delirious. I thought the pain and tiredness and made me a bit crazy, all night I had had dreams and visions, I had seen Morgan crawling around his bed apparently looking for Monkey. "Where's Monkey? Where is he?" He was peering off the end of his bed as if it was a cliff.
"He isn't here, he's not here, go to sleep."
Then I dreamt there were two girls in our room, one standing over my bed the other over Morgan's. I couldn't move or speak and I couldn't work out who they were or what they were doing. It was a bit distrubing. Then it was morning.
"I had a weird sleep!" I told Morgs.
"I did too," he said, "I dreamt there were two Laos girls standing over our beds."
We both dreamt it... or did we? The more we thought about it the more we thought they actually were in our room and we were so drowsy we thought we were dreaming it. We checked our bags but nothing was missing. Then we checked the window that looked onto the hostel corridor...it was open!
I spent that day in Luang Prabang reading and looking round the city, it truly is very beautiful. Morgan went to the waterfalls and elephant sanctury. I couldn't face it, I was in too much pain.
The following day we decided to head back. We were on our peds facing a long journey back to Vang Vieng. We were driving through the city and a Tuk Tuk pulled out in front of Morgan. He jammed on the brakes, swerved and came off his bike. No more! We went to the bus station, had our bikes strapped to the roof of a bus and took the bus home. We got home in time to watch England draw with Algeria, Monkey was still waiting for us with stories of Ty and Cal returning the day before with bloody and gruesome injuries.
The next day we caught the night train to Bangkok.
We were staying in Khaosan Road in Bangkok which is full of backpackers and travellers. We spent three nights there. We had a good time, partying in the evening and sightseeing in the daytime. On our last night we went to Muay Thai Kickboxing which did not disappoint. It was savage. The next day we went the Grand Palace in Bangkok and had a look around. In the evening we caught the night train to Suritthani and from there the ferry to Koh Phangang. I am in Koh Pangang now, staying in a hut on the hillside overlooking Haad Rin Beach. After the stressful time we have had relaxing by the sea is the perfect remedy. We have had two nights here already and it has been amazing. It is beautiful and at night time the parties are crazy. We watched England beat Slovenia on a cinema screen on the beach and then went to party. They have bars on the beach with foam parties and outside one bar a big rope on fire where people do fire skipping, it's a bit mental. In two days time it is the full moon party which is supposed to be awesome. I will update you all soon.
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