We stay at Vientiane Backpackers; a hostel with friendly staff who offer all their guests breakfast, hot showers and free vodka after 9pm. We hit the river side at the perfect time of day as the sun is setting into a hazy glow creating the perfect setting to snap a few shots and potter through the night market. We only stay one night but could easily stay longer.

In the morning me and Niki visit the Cope Centre (www.copelaos.org) and learn how the non-profit organisation is helping people all over Laos affected by unexploded ordnance and people with disabilities. Sadly, Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world per capita. It is estimated that 260 million sub-munitions (bombies) from cluster bombs were dropped over Lao PDR between 1964 and 1973. Unexploded ordnance (UXO's) are 'explosive weapons that failed to detonate when they were fired, dropped, launched or projected, and still pose a risk of exploding'. In Lao, there are a range of UXOs contaminating the countryside, including large bombs, rockets, grenades, artillery munitions, mortars, landmines and cluster munitions. It's been estimated that around 50 000 people were injured or killed as a result of UXO incidents between 1964 and 2008. Roughly 30 000 of these incidents occurred during the time of the Second Indochina War/Vietnam War (up until 1973). The other 20 000 occurred in the post-conflict era (from 1973 to 2008). It is estimated that more than 50% of victims in the post-conflict era are children. UXO's do not discriminate against who they maim or kill and continue to incapacitate a society long after the conflict is over. In December 2008, 94 States signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo, Norway. If you are interested in the campaign and want to see the latest information on who has and who hasn't signed up to the convention, go to: Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) website.

After an educational morning at the COPE Centre we continue the hitching journey, fist by taking a tuk-tuk to what we think is the edge of the city and get picked up on our first true (i.e. free) hitch. A local military woman takes pity on us - two young women lost in Laos - and despite the fact that she is already late for work, takes us in her 4x4 to the Southern Bus station where we take a local bus to Vieng Kham. We only spend one night there but I feel as though I have seen all that Vieng Kham has to offer; Noodle soup and cigarettes. I get up early to go for a jog in the morning, very aware of the fact that I'm only wearing shorts and a vest top; Laos has a very modest culture and we are a long way from Vang Vieng! We meet two Israeli girls who try to hitch hike with us but we decide it's a better idea to split into two groups. As soon as we do luck would have it that a group of kind Lao locals who are going to exactly the same place as us pick us up. They work for a Telecommunications company so make a few stops to work on satellite towers on the way, it's hot and we both fall asleep in the back of the car. One of the guys speaks good English so the others get him to translate, making jokes and giggling along the way. Lao are such gentle and innocent people, almost child-like, it's really sweet.