Laos

---

Again apologies that this has taken so long for me to update but it has been a tad hectic over the past few weeks and the internet in Laos wasn't especially brilliant so I am currently writing in LA.
So, We set off from Hanoi for a 10 hour bus ride to get to the border with Laos before spending a night at a tiny border town. The night before the complexion of the group had changed a lot so we had lost the two other english guys and the three austrian girls and gained 7 very very loud swedish girls. This wouldn't have been so much of a problem if they were the national volleyball team but they weren't. Anyway I digress. As we drove on the weather closed in, from being chilly in Hanoi to downright freezing at the border post, so much so that it was basically a white out whilst we were driving along a very narrow mountain road. We were all huddled at the customs desk with hoodies and jackets dug out of bags and still all of us freezing and praying that the hotel had heating, which of course, it didn't. After a freezing night we headed back to the bus for a 7 hour journey to Vientianne, the capital of Laos. On the plus side it was slightly warmer here but it bucketed with rain the whole day we were here, and we only stayed one night, so we just chilled out, i grabbed a massage to try and recover from 17hours of buses in two days and then another early night, as there was little nightlife. The scenery in Laos was stunning however, and it pretty much made up for being stuck on the bus when every time you rounded a corner you were confronted with huge chunks of rock rising out of nowhere and then disappearing as quickly as they had appeared. We headed to the fabled Vang Vieng first thing the next morning, all of us very excited for some night life, as well as more than one night in one place! The bus journey was a short one, only 4 hours and we arrived at about 2ish. Decided we didnt have time to go tubing on the first day. Finally the day we had all been waiting for since getting into Laos, TUBING! The idea for anyone not aware is that you hire an inflatable tube and basically float down the river. The only slight downside was the fact that the water was freezing cold. Vang Vieng lived up to the beauty of the rest of Laos and i can totally understand what our guide said when it looks like Halong bay without the water. The next day we boarded our trusty bus for another 7 hour journey to Luang Prabang, a world heritage town. The majority of us got up at 5am the first morning to give alms (giving food) to the monks from the many temples in the small town. After a quick power nap we headed to the waterfalls. These were really beautiful and had several swimming areas to enjoy the clear blue water. One of these pools had a small rope swing to jump into from, and of course me being the graceful person I am landed on my face perforating my eardrum and meaning that Ive just had to cancel my diving trip to the bahamas. Anyway back to Laos. The next day we boarded our long boat for a two day journey up the Mekong river to the border with Thailand. This was a much more chilled out way of traveling and pretty enjoyable although slightly boring at times. We stopped off after ten hours to sleep in a small town that was nestled right on the river. A brilliant curry and a decent sleep and we were off again at 6am for another 8 hours on the boat. As you can probably tell Laos was dominated by a lot of traveling and this was starting to take its tool on all of us by now, as we were constantly tired and in desperate need of a good night sleep without having to board a bus. Finally made it too the Thai border but didnt hang around as we headed straight for Chiang Mai for the night. Another 6 hours on the bus and we arrived at 10pm but i headed straight for the hospital to get my ear checked out, as it was still sore two days after hitting the water and I had no idea it was perforated. Unfortunately due to having to have a follow up appointment the next day i couldnt go elephant trekking or to tiger kingdom (where u can play with the tigers) so had the day to wonder the city and try and figure out what the hell i was gonna do instead of go to the bahamas. We left Chiang Mai that night on the sleeper train to arrive back into Bangkok the next morning.
I love Bangkok now. I almost feel comfortable there now as Ive gotten to know bits of it really well and found the rest of our group asking me where to go out etc. Managed to bump into a load of guys from bryanston in Khoa San road so hung out with them the next two days until my flight out on the 27th.
Ive definately enjoyed South East Asia a lot, and different places for many different reasons. The people in Cambodia and Laos were so friendly (it was difficult to find someone not smiling), the scenery in Laos and Thailand is breaktaking. The Paddy fields in Vietnam are gorgeous. The chaos of traffic in Vietnam and Bangkok is exhilarating. The alcohol is dirt cheap everywhere. There are like minded people doing exactly the same as you everywhere. And its totally different to any other place that Ive ever been before. Some highlights have to be: waterskiing in Koh Phangan with the setting sun in front of me, getting tailor made suits in Hoi An, throwing caution to the wind hiring mopeds in vietnam, the stunning temples of Cambodia, the backpacking mecca that is Khoa San road. And most importantly the fact that I now know I can do it all on my own. Although I didnt do cambodia vietnam and laos alone I know that i could have and i did do thailand completely alone and i meet loads of really cool people.
As I said at the start Im currently in LA staying the the lovely Bush's who have been kind enough to put me up for a little while. The future plan at the moment is to go to San Fran for the weekend and then head to the bahamas to meet up with the parents for a week in a hotel with them. Then head back to america to see some friends in various universities before heading to South America for two months, finally heading home a bit earlier than previously planned.

---