This is it. I cannot believe that the 40-day tour of All four countries has come to an end. When i look backover my experiences over the last 6 weeks, it doesn't seem real. I can say hands down it's been the best experience of my life....and that's why i've decided to extend it by another month! :D

Laos was beautiful, i think we all agreed. And Vang Vieng...well, it was crazy. Probably one of the prettiest places in terms of scenery: limestone cliffs, caves, and all along a river. But it was backpacker central. I think it had something to do with the infamous tubing experience, and it really didn't disappoint. There were some quite hairy moments trying to 'crawl' from bar to bar by rubber tyre and river but it was hilarious. And somehow we all managed to stay together! We were not to know though that they were actually warning against taking part in the event at all that day, due to 'unsafe water levels and currents'. Oh well, we survived! The day previously we spent kayaking and taking in the scenery and visiting the caves, and every night we visited a bar named Bucket Bar which only sold....buckets surprsingly!

The town was quite strang...every eatery played repeats of Friends and Family Guy 24 hrs a day, so when it rained people would just spend the whole day lounging on the beds in the restaurants watching endless episodes.

Luang Prabang was our final stop iin Laos. But to get there we had to endure a 14 hr bus journey that wasn't supposed to take that long, but due to mudslides along mountainous rides, it was slighty delayed. After a near death experience of nearly going over the side of the mountain, and only being saved by locals opushing against the side of the bus to keep us on the road, we were all soooo relieved to have made it. Luang Prabang was lovely, it felt as is a French village had been lifted up and transported half way across the world. We swam in waterfalls and soaked in atmosphere of the markets, before bording our boat for a 2-day journey down the Mekong to get to Thailand.

It was long. It was not fun. And we welcomed the end of the 2-days, even though we didnt want to say goodbye to Laos. This point marked the final border crossing back into the Land of Smiles

Sawatdee again Thailand!

To say goodbye was hard. Some of the people I have been travelling with for 40 days and it's not until you have to say goodbye that you really appreciate the friendships you have made. There is no doubt that I will be seeing them again, so in a way it's not "goodbye" it's only "see you later".

For me know it's the start of a new phase, and the prospect of being in one place for more than a a couple of days is soooo appealing. Beaches, sun and scuba diving await!