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Arrived in Laos (with our friends Luli and Alex) after a long 2 day journey on a slow boat along the Mekong River - it was proper slow - we stopped at Pak Beng - a tiny village with not alot around and we felt like we had gone back 300 years! The slow boat was fine the first day as we had comfy seats and I managed to sleep most of the way but the second day the boat was packed and they loaded all the bags on one side at the back near the engine so the boat was really lopsided so it was abit hairy at times, we must have stopped off at so many local villages so the locals could hop on and try and sell us stuff. There was a man with a chicken sitting (s***ting) on him and the man next to me was blatantly taking photos of me so I persuaded Alex to swap with me so although some amazing views of the mountains and the mekong we were so pleased when we finally got to Laos!
Got to Luang Probang and bumped into Netta and Ofir - 2 Israeli guys that we had met in Chang Mai who had had a horrendous 32 hour bus ride into Laos - our slow boat didnt seem so bad after all. They were leaving earlier as didnt want to stay in Luang Probanng too long so we had a result as they had already paid for their room - between Matt, Sian and I we only had to pay 25,000kip - which worked out about 75pence each for a first nights accommodation. Luli and Alex shared with Andras who Luli already knew and just so happened to be staying in our guest house - small world! We all headed out for dinner and were excited to try the bread and pastries that people had raved about and that they are famous for - when I opened my baguette I saw what I thought was an olive but actually turned out to be a beetle, nice! Not a great first experience but we did end up sampling some pretty tasty doughnuts and baguettes along the way. Stayed in Luang Probang for 3 nights - waterfalls, temples, relaxing bars, nice sunsets and lovely market. On the morning we left me and Sian got up before dawn and set off to see the monks process through the streets whilst the locals give them food - it sounded like a spiritual event so we just planned to watch from afar but we ended up feeding the monks too - sticky rice, bananas and crackers - we couldnt make eye contact as we are women, it was worth seeing but when we researched into it - the lonely planet book said tourists should not feed the monks as it encourages commercialisation!
Got a mini bus down to Vang Vieng - amazing views of the mountains, along high and windey roads, we didn't realise Laos was so green! Meet up with Alex, Luli and Andras - they travelled down a day before us as had less time to do Laos than us. All go out for dinner - met up with some nice dutch girls they had met tubing yday. After dinner go to one of the only bars in town - Q Bar for a few buckets - speak to this crazy Laos lady who introduced us to the saying "No money, no honey, no honey, no horny, no horny, no baby, no baby, no problem!" She was hilarious but found out a couple of days later that she was actually an undercover cop!random! Next day we went Kayaking - our tour guide Mr Colour was a legend, really amazing views of Vang Vieng and the Nam Kong River. In the evening I went for a Israeli meal with Alex and about 100 other Israelis as it was Rosh-Ha-Shana Day (Israeli New Year) - had a really good time - lots of singing and clapping, drinking wine and neat whiskey but couldnt have looked more out of place if I'd tried - sitting at the head of the table looking pale with bright red lips - not typically Jewish! Sian and Matt stayed at a bar near our guest house - Sian had a few too many buckets - enough said! Next day me and Luli went Rock Climbing - we hiked for about half an hour up Red Mountain in the boiling heat (- I have never been so sweaty) - it was absolutely insane, one of the most physical things Ive ever done! Having never done anything more than a climbing wall in England I was Rock climbing 22 metres up overlooking Vang Vieng with nothing more than a s*** fitting harness and one man standing at the bottom of the rock telling my in quite bad english where to put my hands and feet! At some points I was out of sight of the instructor so just had to guess where was good to climb, it was mad. The last wall was a sheer vertical one, absolutely baking hot from the sun and barely any hand or foot holes, all they gave you was abit of chalk for your hands (which of course I used to feel more of a pro!)By this time I had climbed 3 walls - including the 22metre so had barely any energy left but gave it my best attempt - got about 3/4 of the way up and then fell - bashing my already bitten to shreds legs against the rock but when I got down they told me that was an advanced climbing wall so was pleased with myself!
Went tubing(floating downstream in a tractor tire tube, stopping at bars to dance and drink) with Alex, Luli and Andras in the afternoon - Sian and Matt decide to give it a miss as both not feeling 100%. Was really fun, lots of buckets, rope swings and a death slide in the last bar - in one of the bars if you bought a whiskey bucket you got a free joint. Suddenly it was getting really dark and still had quite alot of the river to go to get back to the tube shop - it got dark really quickly then it started to piss down and thunder and lightning - and it was suddenly just us 4 in a pitch black river - it was freezing by the end - it was fun at first but we were pleased when some local kids ran out to help us out of the river - A few days later we heard that someone had died from tubing either that day or the day after which made it seem more real that people do die doing what we just did and even more dangerous! All go out for one last meal together - A, A and Luli have booked to leave at 3am in morning to Vientiane so all crash out in our room for abit - was sad to say goodbye to them.
The next day us three hired motorbikes for the afternoon, it was brilliant. We got a map and after stopping off at a petrol station for our 'gasoline' we headed off to a waterfall - it was lush, really nice being able to go where we wanted after so much time with other people driving us around! I managed to fall off on a hill and sian scrapped her leg badly as the bikes were alot heavier than they looked - just as we set off it poured down and just as we got back it was thunder and lightening with electricity cables sparking everywhere and I stalled infront of a bus but apart from that it was a success! but apart from that it was a good afternoon - going through remote villages with all the children running out to wave hello/Sabidee. We did a tour the next day with Mr Colour - we went to an Elephant Cave where we had our fortune 'read' and apparantly me and sian are going to be lucky but matt....not so much! Then we walked to 2 caves where the Laos people had lived during the war which was really interesting- the best cave by far was the last water cave though where we tubed along for abit then had to crawl on our hands and knees through really small caves to get to the next section - was quite creepy but really enjoyed it, loads of water droplets hanging that looked like crystals and big spiders! After lunch we headed for tubing - mr Colour kayaked down the river while we tubed - current really strong but we did all the slides and swings and of course drunk buckets.
Next morning after all the drinking and caving me and sian decided to treat ourselves to a massage - we think they got me and sian confused as she ended up having quite a hard massage and mine was abit too soft for my liking but cant complain for 3pounds an hour then go for more tubing in the afternoon, very relaxing day! Left for Vientiane - the capital after spending about a week in Vang Vieng. We had heard there wasnt alot to do in Vientiane and that turned out to be right, the main strip was abit seedy and there was a fair on so it seemed like we could have been in Littlehampton! - were glad we only stayed for 2 nights - hired bikes for a day and explored the city - a few temples, Talat Sao (morning market) then cycled out of the city to find the Forest Temple Sauna - it sounds more glamorous than it was - we headed off road into woodland where there was one small handmade sign that said Sauna this way and it was basically a hut in the middle of nowhere - it was a nice herbal sauna but did seem like we were in someones back garden! - glad we found it though! Next morning head to the airport - sad to say goodbye to Matt as we leave for Vietnam and he waits for his flight to New Zealand, will see him again in 5 weeks though in Australia. Just as we left we heard there is a typhoon heading for Vietnam so should be an interesting arrival!
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