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Published: January 2nd 2008
We entered Laos and once again they charged us a small amount for entering. We got a boat in Laos over to Don Det one of the four thousand islands. The boats were small and low and felt like they were going to sink. We stepped off the boat at Don Det and for a change no-one approached us, it was peaceful and very relaxing. We stayed in a small bungalow on stilts with hammocks outside our door and had a nice walk around the island, it was very beautiful. The island only had electricity for a few hours in the evening. We spent the time in the hammocks reading our books, playing with the little girl of the family and the animals who didnt leave us alone, including the bugs at night. We left Don Det for the capital Vientiene via Pakse. From Pakse we had a night bus and arrived early morning. In Vientiene we went to the Buddha Park on the local bus. The Buddha Park was full of lots of statues and there was a boy there learning english who asked us lots and lots of questions and wanted our help. We spent about half an hour
helping him. Whilst in Vientiene Lucy and Sam got a much needed hair cut for only a fiver! From Vientiene we took a mini bus to Vang Vieng. On the way Sam J had someone throw up behing her and got her feet!!! We arrived later than expected so we didnt get to go tubing that day. Vang Vieng was a very touristy town. On the main street there were lots of restaurants constantly playing Friends or The Simpsons and you could easily spend hours lounging in them. The next day we went tubing which is where you sit in a rubber ring and float down the rapids in the river. It was great fun and along the way we stopped at lots of bars testing out the local beer. The bars would pull you in using a rope. Some of the bars had volleyball and swing ropes which you could use to throw yourself into the river. It lasted all day and that evening we went back to a friends restaurant. From Vang Vieng we took a bus to Luang Prabang. It was a very windy journey around the mountains but very beautiful. On the bus we met two
Canadian guys Kelly and Shaun. We were told to go bowling after 11pm so we thought we would give it a go as there was not much else to do there at night. It was a strange night as it appeared to be gay night at the bowling alley and seemed stranger that our friends had recommended we go here. It was a fun night and the next morning we set off for Thailand. To save time we set off early in a speed boat down the Mekong River. It was a horrible journey and we have never been so squashed. With all our bags aswell we had to sit in a tiny gap for 7 hours with just an hour break for lunch. We would not reccommend it to anyone!! Getting off the speed boat we were so happy we forgot to get our passport stamped out of Laos. The idiots we are this meant we had to cross the river to Thailand 3 times!!! Loas is a great country to travel in, it is so laid back with no hassles and really friendly people. We definately want to return.
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Joanna
non-member comment
Cool!
Tubing looks like great fun and so relaxing all you need now is a book in one hand and a cocktail in another! Lovely!