Getting back to the village wasn't easy. Our 'bus' was packed. There were over 20 people and it felt so unsafe. On top of that we paid more than we should have because they don't want to negotiate with you when you are a 'guava'. NB. Thai use the word 'farang' to describe westeners but the word 'farang' also means a guave, the fruit. So we started referring to all white people as guavas:). Coming back to the ride. I was s***ting myself. I could not stop thinking...

Weekend in Vientiane. Just had a hot shower (I know that I sound like one student of BBK but I don't care!). It was the best thing ever. The thought of this shower kept me alive (well, sane) for last 5 days. So yes, we managed to escape the village for the weekend. Don't get me wrong, the villagers are really nice people, kind and generous but I just couldn't cope with the dark squatting toilets. Having heard other people's stories about constipation, giving ...

Hat Khai village - day 2 WE slept long and still felt very tired. And cold. My sinusitis was getting worse. I guess the cold didn't help. I had to take painkillers and decongestant regularly. We didn't have much to do. I don't even remember what we did between breakfast and lunch. I think Pai came over and we had a short Lao lesson with her. It's pretty hard because there are a lot of similarities and differences between Thai and Lao so I find it difficult to re...

Nong Khai - Vientiane - Hat Khai It was a long cold journey. Morning in Nong Khai was unusually cold. I had to put a fleece on. With a hindsight I wish I wore my long trousers and hiking shoues too. David, me and Pai took a tuk tuk to the Friendship Bridge and then Pai realised that she forgot her passport. So we carried on thru with the border control and Pai had to rush back to get her passport. WE were to meet on the other side, in Laos. A bus (15 Baht) took ...

Last day in Bangkok was really tough. I couldn't sleep till 3.30am but I had to get up at 9am. I went out to get some ice cofee and fruit for a light breakfast. I got two cans of cofee cos I figured I'd need them to stay awake. Came back to the hotel, had a shower and packed. It took a while because I wanted to squeeze my small backpack into the big one. It felt so heavy again but Iafter I checked out I managed to leave at the hotel for a day for a small fee of 3...