first entry late Laos

This is my first entry, so Im gonna just write up my diary entries from now on, some of them are a bit rambling, so bear with me please. I will also try to backtrack all the previous entries when I get the time. Anyway, entry number 1:
Day 19-Nong Khai to Vang Vieng
Got an early-ish start today and headed to the Thai-Lao friendship bridge after my bacon and omelette farang( tourist ) special breakfast with the french couple. Leaving Thailand was an absolute doddle, passing customs, and taking a 20bht bus across the bridge. Immigration to Laos presented more of a headache, filling in countless forms and handing over dollars/photos/paperwork/soul in order to get a visa, then on to the ridiculously tiny capital, Vientiane. Here I used one of Laos 5 atm machines and then got a tuk-tuk onto the northern bus station, in order to catch my bus onwards to Vang Vieng. Here I re-met the two flamboyant gay guys from the Mut Mee, who were going in the same direction as me. 4hrs later on the bus, still going, listening to cheesy Lao hits, all seemingly about unrequited love and lonely romances. The bus driver really goes hell for leather, but weve still only covered minimal distance, we are however travelling through some of the most amazing scenery Ive seen yet, a mixture of sharply rising hills and endless paddy fields. Arrived in Vang Vieng, a beautiful slice of nowhere that has utterly unfortunately been infected by revelling party head tourists who simply come to empty their pockets and heads. Pity cos it is absolutely stunning with its mix of sluggish lifestyle and amazing riverviews. Checked into fun little place called Spicylaos backpackers hostel (Vang Vieng), where all the beds are open air in a warehouse made of bamboo. Looks cool, the most like a hostel in town, so it should get me back into the hostelling mood, kinda odd how many farang are in town after Nong Khae. Got invited to a fellow hostel-mates birthday.

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