Hello All

So we last left you at flying to Vientaine. Vientiane is nice but a little quiet, its very laid back and is quite small so you can walk everywhere.

We decided it was best if we sorted out our Thai visa in Vientiane at the embassy as we are crossing into Thailand overland which means you only get 15 days on your visa and we need 45 :) We went to the Embassy on Friday morning and it was a fairly straight forward process, after being shafted for 100Baht each to fill in the form & photocopy our passports (thats about $5 i think Grrrr!) The embassy said to come back the following working day to collect the visa but it being a Friday we had to wait until Monday, which coincidently was a Thai holiday so they were closed. Sweet! so we had to wait until Tues PM to collect our visa which meant we couldnt leave Vientiane until Weds AM as thats when the bus for Vang Vienf left, leaving us trapped in Vientiane for 6 days... i k now its rude to complain about being stuck in Laos when your all at home freezing but there was litterly nothing to do! We managed to find a swimming pool & some friends showed up in our hotel on the Saturday so we survived but it wasnt ideal!

Bus to Vang Vieng was 4 hrs and was a little windey going over the mountains but we got there ok and set about finding a bar to watch Friends in and chill out. Vang Vieng was really nice and sweet but made us feel a little old when there are hundreds of near naked teenagers running around after tubing with neon paint all over themselves and shouting really loud!

The following day we decided to go Tubing which is basically crusing down the mekong river in a rubber ring, there are lots of bars on either side and they throw you ropes and pull you into the bars. After arriving at the first bar and planning to 'take it slow' with the drinking we got invited to play "beer pong" which is aiming ping pong balls in your oppositions pint glass and as soon as you get it in, they need to down there drink. Needless to say it got a bit messy! Photos to follow, if i can stomach looking at them!

Sam heard Vang Vieng described as "if teenagers ruled the world, this is what it would be like" It's pretty mental, but we got down!

We finished tubing about 6pm as we had to get our tubes back to the office to get out deposit back and then i prompty fell asleep/passed out. i'm not sure which?! :)

Definitley worth doing as it was so much fun! They also had zip wires & slides you could have a go on in your tubes which i loved!

16 people have died this year doing it already so i was quite glad we survived even if we did loose sunglasses & flip flops.

The following day was our bus to Luang Prabang which was meant to take 8 hrs and it actually did take 8 hours but it was like being on a rollercoaster for 8 hrs, the roads are so windey and i thought i was going to be sick on a few occasions! The bus was described as a VIP bus but they lied, it was thw worst bus journey yet! It got dark about 6pm so flying round the mountans on a bus with no lights was pretty scary.

Arrived in Luang Prabang about 8pm and managed to find somewhere to stay for $12.50 a night which is good as most places were $25 and above.

We went off exploring today and found a bar called Utopia which is right on the Mekong river and very relaxing, we chilled out there for a bit & then decided to work out our route to Chiang Mai for Christmas.

So the options are:

Slow Boat, 22hrs, cramped Hell. $25

Speed Boat, 10hrs, people die. $36

Bus, 19hrs, Sleep sitting up right, $40

Fly: 1 hr, Safe luxury, $150

Can you guess which one i want to do?!

We're currently trying to decide on what to do, Sam is for the bus but i just want to fly, i just dont want to hand over $150 though!!

Christmas present maybe, any generous souls reading this?! ;)

Off to a waterfall/ Bear Sanctuary tomorrow and then will have to make a decision on the fate of our trip to Chiang Mai... not looking forward to it after our bus journey tomorrow.

Doesnt feel Christmassy at all but we went shopping for each others Christmas presents the other day so we'll be be celebrating it in one way or another.

Lots of love, will update from Chiang Mai, well Sam will - its his turn!

Vickey & Sam

P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!