Sophia C

Not really sure if there is precisely 4 thousand islands, but this place is right at the bottom of Laos where the Mekong River spilts breaks up the land and is one of the places you can see the rare Irrawady Dolphins. After the bus journey from Vientiane we stopped in Pakse for some breakfast, seemed like an alright place but you wouldnt want to spend too long here, more of a base for day trips or a stop over if you have to. From Pakse we negotiated our own minivan which was luxurious until we picked up 3 others near Champasak. There were so many touts selling bus tickets and tuktuk drivers trying to get your business that I was so glad im travelling with a largish group as this could have been scary, ... read more

After a great few days in Luang Prabang I was ready to move to the place Id heard so many mixed reviews - apparently its like marmite - you either love it or hate it! The main thing to do here is Tubing along the river and sitting around watching Friends in any of the many Tv bars. The journey from LB was a nightmare (for me anyway!) I got seriously motion sick, and actually pucked out the window - nice! The roads were extremly whindy and what can I say, I obviously prefer to be in the driving seat and not at the back of a bus! Apart from that the journey was cool because Karen (girl I met on day trip in LB) introduced me to a group of really nice people - ... read more

Bye Bye Chiang Mai Asia » Thailand » Chiang Mai By Sophia C May 10th 2007 Around the World After returning from Meditation Retreat on the 9th I decided to treat myself by going to the hairdressers and getting my hair washed and straightened (girls will apreciate how good this was!), I also had a pedicure! Hair only cost 1pound and Pedicure 1.50 - so bargain! As I was still feeling rough Id rather spend the money on treatments than food at the moment! Next day before catching flight to Laos, we had a few hours to kill so again I went for pampering - I had a Thai Massage and a Foot Massage with Reflexology with the guy who taught us on the day course, it was a... read more

Today I did a Thai Massage course, and it hurt! It was very intense and physical. We did have fun though, as we had to take it in turns "massaging" eachother. Its definately harder than it looks! Our teacher had a great sense of humour, especially when Kal was practicing on him - he'd make groaning noises and say "yes Kal, that feels goooood!" Our course started at 9am and finished at 4pm. After that we went to a "Monk Chat", something Patrick recommended. It was really good, just sitting around and talking to Monks (mainly novice monks training at the university). We asked them all kinds of questions. One of the reasons they do it is to improve their English, so not all are brilliant so was funny at times trying to explain words. ... read more

04/05/07 - Well after 12 hours travelling, by minivan, coach, bus, coach, another coach, plane, another plane and finally taxi I arrived in Chiang Mai. Have been so looking forward to coming up to northern Thailand as have heard sooo many good things! Unfortuantely the weather is bad here too! However there are lots of courses you can take and overall the cost of living is soooo much cheaper than the Islands. After finding a good guest house, after only 10 minutes I was invited out with a group of people going to a kickboxing match. Friday nights seem to be Kickboxing night in Thailand. So even though I was shattered from my day I didnt want to miss out! I was very impressed at the stadium, there were lots of youngsters fighting and they ... read more