Luang Prabang - Vang Vien - Vietiane

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So arriving and finally finding somewhere to stay we found out the this place has an amazzzzing food market where you can pay 10,000 lip for a plate and load it up as much as you want and then they take it off you and warm it up! So naturally I had a competition with Leah that we see who can pile the plate up the most…… I won by a long shot!!!!!

There are some great plaes to eat here as well and there is a big French influence about as well so great baguettes filled to the brim with what ever you want and cheap once again! We actually went and had one every day fort he entire time that we were here as they were just so god dam good!

Christmas was fast approaching and so we found a room with a TV so we were able to watch some xmas films on the day and actually the room was amazing all covered in dark wood and had an amazing bathroom as well!!!! Yes we both get very excited about the amazing bathroom in some places!

We decided that there should be a budget of 60,000 kip or 5 quid for xmas presents and that there should be at least one that can be eaten! So hitting the markets in search for presents was hard enough as there is nothing really there but on our third trip we managed to spend all our budget! I think that I went over ever so slightly!

Xmas day comes and we open our presents that have been wrapped in a magazine as we were unable to find any paper in this place! I got some chopsticks, chocolate, biscuits, a fish bag and a fish keyring! Leah – the very lucky girl got some mouth wash, three cakes, slippers, some little tag things that can be put onto your bag so you can see that its your bag on the conveyor at the airport!

We managed to watch some films too but they were not exactly xmassy but it was a great morning and so we went out and had a great breakfast by the river. Such a nice start to xmas! Next we went and had a sandwhich and followed by dinner at a place called Lao Lao which is a busy bar but does a funky soup/do it yourself dinner – you cook everything in the centre of the table with a huge pot! A few drinks later and we were talking to some ozzy girls that now live in England and it was a nice way to end the day!

For new Years we had decided to go tubing in Vang Vieng. Arriving and getting told that the main area was going to be noisy we opted for a place out of town! This was the best place that we had stayed by a long shot and the place was brand new! Even the stickers were still on the bathroom sink (yes very excited about this bathroom as well!!!)

We went for a walk about the first day and found some amazing caves and neglected to tell leah that when we were inside there was a massive spider , about the size of a dinner plate on one of the walls, utill we were outside! The scenery here is amazing and the rock formations all around are breathtaking!

We went tubing with a couple that we had met on the bus down there actually and it was great fun! We left about 12ish and some of the bars were still not even open along the river but some were getting busy by the time that we had had a few in the first bar! We met up with another group of 3 guys and basically went down the river with them! We hit most of the bars and some have zip wires and slides that fire you out into the river – I went on them but leah did not!!!! We both managed to get to the end without being hurt but we did see some people so drunk that they were falling all over the place and one bloke fell off the side and down the river and didn’t look to good after!

New years eve came and Leahs birthday also – now here was the challege of buying her anything! There is nothing to buy here at all apart from beer and more beer! So I got her some toothpaste, tes bags and also went out and got a birthday cake with candles! So I think I may have to get her something else as well!!!!!!! She seemed happy but I don’t know if that was a front!!! JL

We went for a cycle ride to the blue lagoon which is a really nice place to hang out for the day with crystal clear waters and fish in there as well which you can swim in! there is a cave up the hill but its very steep and huge as well – you can walk for like 40 minutes in there.

Hitting a curry house with another copule and then heading to some bars afterwards was great fun and a nice way to see in the new years. We actually bumped into all the people that we had met over the last few weeks so we all sat about and drank so was graet fun!

Heading to Vientiane to sort out our Vietnam visa was easy enough and now we have that in our posession we are eqipped with a bus ticket for 24 hrs to get us into Hanoi! Lets hope that there is no problems with the bus ride – everyone keeps saying that there will be!

Next stop VIETNAM….

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