Laos then Laos then.....

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Han - How long have we been here? Hmm, not sure. We LOVE Laos! All the days seem to go by in a flash. About a week ago we arrived in Vientiane, which is the capital (although very small - about 450,000 people) and the closest town to the border. Immigration was pretty straightforward, the trick is to stand with your arms out to stop all the little Thai women pushing in front of you and then getting their whole families to push in also. It doesnt work though.

Neil - Upon arrival our first mission was to track down a friend of ours who runs a swanky bar in the hope of getting free beer. Our plan was foiled as Dodge had left the country a couple of days earlier and gone to Mauritius. Never mind though as beer is cheap. My fave thng about Vientiane would have to be the cafe culture, real good coffee and a fantastic array of cakes - I now weigh 18 stone, or should do. We also went to the Laos Revolutionary Museum and learnt all about the peoples fight against the american imperialists.

Han - Neil is starting to look like Michelle McManus. My jelly belly is coming along quite nicely too, I must say! Vientiane is pretty quiet and a few days is enough to take it all in, so we got a bus up to Vang Vieng which is remarkably beautiful. We have a lovely room overlooking the river with a spectacular view of the nearby mountains. The town is full of bars showing endless episodes of Friends to hungover Zombies who spent the previous night drinking Lao Lao, the local hooch. Theres plenty to do in the daytime, cycling, kayaking etc. We did some tubing the other day which involves sitting in a tractor inner tube and bobbing down the river, occasionally being pulled into bars on the way. This was all well and good until we started to get sunburn and couldn't make the river flow any faster so we had to paddle with our arms. Goodbye bingo wings! Then in some rapids my ring got wedged between two rocks and I was stuck. The next problem came when we didn't know where to get out. We knew we were near the town but the river split two ways and Neil suggested getting out at the fork. I had hurt my foot and didn't want to walk too far but reluctantly tried to get out and walk up the bank. It was very muddy and once again I was in a potentially flip-flop losing situation. After a mini tantrum, we got back in our rings and went further down the increasingly fast flowing river panicking that there was no way out and that our pink, shrivelled unconsious bodies would be discovered, days later, bobbing along the Mekong some 100 miles away.

N - Only one of us was panicking, bet you can guess whom! Anyway 100 metres after our return to the river of doom I got out and waited for Hannah to release herself from the reed's she was hanging onto for dear life (as if she was about to go over a waterfall!). The moral of the story is Green Flag - Good, Red Flag - certian death. The next couple of days have been spent relaxing. Whilst Han was resting today I hired a mountain bike and cycled out to a local village in the hope of finding a guide to take us to a local waterfall. The only waterfall I saw was the constant flow of Lao rice wine poored down my throat by the helpful local people, I tried to resist but didn't no the Laos word for no.

H- When it comes to booze, Neil doesn't know the English word for no.

Zammo - 'Just Say NO'

H- Anyway, that's pretty much it for now. A big Birthday shout going out to Sean & Stu - hope you had a good party, although I've never been to a party that was as good without the Fosters there! Love you Lots! More to follow.....

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