It was bound to happen sooner or later...

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Approaching the half way mark in our travels, we had been remarkably lucky up until now that in 4 months on the road neither of us had fallen ill so far, aside from the odd headache, cold or itchy mosquito bite. Well that was all about to change...

After a scenic but bumpy 5 hour mini-van ride from Luang Prabang, we arrived in what used to be known as the party town in Laos, the small dusty Vang Vieng. Previously infamous for it's tubing, partying and drinking, in recent months this has all changed after the government ordered that the riverside bars, where tuber's would over-indulge in potent Lao Lao whiskey all day then stagger back to town (if they made it back) had to close immediately and the town had to clean up it's act. There are also rumours that the Chinese government have a hand in the town, and judging by the amount of Chinese tourists we saw, plus a fancy new Chinese hotel which wasn't there 2 years ago, this may be true.

We found a nice guesthouse, checked in and then had a wander around the small town, which didn't appear to have changed too much since our last visit. The TV bars playing Friends and Family Guy were all still there, as were the same-same Westernised menus, and the sandwich/pancake stalls on the road side. After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed back for a rest before freshening up to go out that evening. We had heard about a party in the jungle which was taking place that night, so we headed to a bar, had a few drinks (and one too many Lao Lao whiskey shots) and played some pool until it was time to go. The party wasn't that busy, maybe only 30 people, but it had a nice atmosphere with good music and as it was a bit chilly there was a big bonfire which everyone was congregated around so it was quite social. We spent the night drinking and chatting to people before leaving at around midnight and finishing the night with a cheeky chicken baguette, which may or may not have been to blame for the events about to come...

The next day we both felt tired and our heads were not thanking us for the Lao Lao whiskey shots we had consumed, but after some fruit shakes and a relaxing morning in the sun by the river we felt a bit better. The river here is really nice and a guesthouse have an area with mats and cushions overlooking it all so it was a nice setting to chill out by. We had a bite to eat in town and spent the rest of the afternoon back by the river, until we went back to the room for a rest. Scott had a headache at this point but we thought it was from the hot sun or just a bit of a hangover from the night before, but when we went out that night for a traditional Lao meal of pie and mash in an Irish pub and got ready to watch the football, it had got worse and he felt quite ill so we went back to the room at 10pm. From 10.15pm to 8am he was up and down all night, throwing up badly and with a really high fever but chills and sweats, so in the morning we went straight to the pharmacy and then to the local hospital as advised by the doctor in the pharmacy. It may have just been a bug but we thought we should get him checked for malaria and other diseases as we had been in Asia for a while and wanted to be on the safe side. He looked and felt awful and couldn't even keep water down, but luckily after some tests he got the all clear and a nasty gastro bug was confirmed. The hospital was tiny and people at home would have a heart attack if they could picture it, it wasn't exactly modern, but to be honest the staff were very professional and the test results came back much quicker than they would have at our local hospital back home so we were satisfied. He was prescribed anti-biotics and told to just rest for the next few days, which is exactly what he did. The next 2-3 days consisted of Scott sleeping, sipping water, taking tablets and resting, but he still couldn't keep food down so he had no energy. Eventually with the lure of an Indian to good to refuse, he managed to eat a small bit of chicken tikka, rice and nan bread and seemed to finally be getting better, much to my relief. It's terrible being sick when you are abroad, more so in a country like Laos where home comforts are harder to come by, and I felt so sorry for him, but luckily we had a nice room as it could have been a lot worse otherwise. Like the title of this blog says, it was bound to happen sooner or later I guess.

On day four Scott had enough of being confined to the room and felt much better, although nowhere near 100%, so we thought it would be a good idea to go tubing, especially as it was much more relaxed activity now with no alcohol involved and just nice scenery along the way. After some breakfast we got our tubes and headed down to the Nam Song river. The sun was shining and we spent a good 3 hours just floating down the river in our rubber rings, taking in the peacefulness and the lovely limestone karst scenery all around us. It was a really nice day and we were both pleased to finally be doing something! We had decided to leave the next day, not just Vang Vieng but Laos altogether. Originally we had planned to work all the way South and then re-enter Thailand at Pakse after visiting the 4-thousand islands which we had heard good things about, but after the last few days we just didn't have the motivation to keep travelling in this country and wanted to get back to Thailand so Scott could get fully better before the Philippines. Up until he got ill we had been enjoying Laos, despite the unexpected expense, but we just felt we would be travelling for the sake of it, as neither of us were too fussed about the places we had ear-marked visiting, so we booked on to a bus to go to the capital of Vientiane the next day. But first, we both wanted to see the famous Blue Lagoon, something we had missed last time, so made the pretty long 7km walk out of town in the searing heat the next morning as we didn't fancy riding bikes over the rocky paths. Yes, 7km walk! Whilst it started off well, and the scenery was once again stunning, it probably was a bit over-ambitious with Scott still not feeling too well and having to stop every few minutes, and me not exactly being a professional hiker. We considered turning back, but he insisited he wanted to keep going, so we kept going along the dusty roads, sweating and thirsty, for what seemed like hours (but was just over one) until we finally reached the lagoon. After the mamouth trek to get to this site, we were both quite underwhelmed with it - it was quite blue and pretty, but we had seen far better lagoons so only ended up staying there for 25 minutes! Plus as we had taken an age to get there we were worried about getting back to town in time for our bus out, so got in a tuk-tuk on the way back isntead of attempting the walk again. We then got our bags and went to the bus station to catch the bus to Vientiane...

We arrived to Vientiane in the early evening and at first struggled to find a room as the town was really busy, but I soon found us a nice one in a good location. We showered and went out for dinner, bumping into a guy we had met months ago in China which was random but nice, and with Scott not feeling great again from the morning's exertions but at least feeling hungry, and the city having some good restaurants, we blew the budget and had an amazing steak! To be honest it was probably the nicest meal we have had for weeks and he ate the lot so it was money well spent and made him feel much better - still only £10 for both of us but a really nice treat. We then got an early night as we knew we would be up early the next morning and had a full day of travel ahead of us.

We left Laos at 6am, took a tuk-tuk to the bus station and jumped on a bus over the border to the Thai town of Nong Khai an hour away - originally we had wanted to carry on further to Udon Thani but that bus was full, so once we had been stamped out of Laos and into Thailand (all very smooth), we waited at Nong Khai bus station for a while, got excited to see a 7/11 again, got re-aquainted with our favourite toasted sandwiches from there then changed buses and took another bus 2 hours further to Udon Thani. This is a bigger city than Nong Khai so we were told buses run more frequently to Bangkok from here. Luckily we only had to wait 10 minutes until we could get on another bus, 9 hours further south to Bangkok, and although the journey was really long the bus itself was amazing so it was quite a comfortable trip. It was a brand new 'S Class' bus, complete with seats which massage you, personal TV sets like on a plane, meals, snacks and even wi-fi! Scott also felt like he was almost fully better as well and we were both looking forward to some good Thai food again.

Finally, 14 hours, a tuk-tuk, a taxi and 3 buses after leaving Vientaine, we were back in Bangkok and making plans for the next few days...



S&V's Travel Info & Tips:

General Info: Approx 12,500 Kip to £1.

Transportation: We took a mini-van to Vang Vieng from Luang Prabang and as we got an early one we only paid 100,000 Kip - still too much we think for a 5 hour journey (about £8) but less than the later buses cost. We took a bus to Vientaine for 45,000 Kip (3 hours). To cross the Laos-Thai border we did the following - Tuk Tuk to the bus station (30,000 Kip, 20 minutes), local bus to Nong Khai Thai border (17,000 Kip each, 1 hour), local bus to Udon Thani (40 Baht/80p each, 2 hours), VIP 'S Class' bus to Bangkok (500 Baht/£10 each, 9 hours).

Food: So many bad Westernized restaurants in VV, all showing Friends and Family guy on loop, lots of options but none of the food particularly great. Nazim Indian was nice, as was the food at the Irish pub, and there is a nice place called Alone cafe which had good food, everywhere else was same-same really and not especially cheap. The sandwich stalls are ok for a snack. In Vientiane, Chokdee Cafe does a fabulous steak!

Accomodation: We had a lovely fan room at Grand View guesthouse by the river (front room) for 80,000 Kip (about £6.50) although there were cheaper places around town, but we were so happy we paid a bit more on this occasion! Even if the manager was a bit moody. Rooms overlooking the river cost a lot more but the views are great. Our room in Vientiane was at Be Na Cam guesthouse and so cute, costing 100,000 Kip (£8) - I looked at slightly cheaper rooms in hostels and they were pretty gross for only £1-£2 less!

Other observations:

x) The town is much more relaxed (and we think better) since the riverside bars have closed, although perhaps they could have just been controlled more rather than shut completely. People are more respectful of the locals now and the crowd is better as it's not just young people looking for a party but people who appreciate good scenery as well. It's still a strange place and by no means the real Laos!

xx) Food continued to be bad value for money here, with a basic noodles/rice dish costing much more than a good version in Thailand. As most cuisine in town is Western it's more expensive to eat - expect to spend at least 30,000 Kip up on a sub-standard meal.

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