At a Laos end

I've just arrived at Houay Xai (Houei Say/Huay Sei etc etc, it seems 1 name just isn't enough when you're within spitting distance of two other countries) and have an afternoon to kill before catching a boat to Luang Prabang tomorrow. I had the choice of the slowboat (2 days with gap year students getting drunk) or the fastboat, (7 hours in a canoe type thing with an engine loosely stuck on the back which propels it fast enough to gain it the moniker of "the death boat" with locals). Anyone who knows me should not be surprised that I've gone for the latter option as it just seemed so enticing.

I arrived in Laos on the 22nd and immediately caught a bus to Vang Vieng which got in just in time for the Champions League final. It was disappointing then that after being up for 40 odd hours I fell asleep as soon as I found a hotel and woke up the next morning having comfortably missed the game. Balls. Vang Vieng is a tourist hot spot and is very much somewhere you would either love or despise depending on whether you like drink, drugs, floating down rivers in tubes and watching non stop episodes of friends. As none of those are high on my list of likes I went of for a 2 day trek & kayak in the surrounding area which was great as it is in a beautiful location. It was just a shame about the tourists really... Oh, and my guide who hopefully you'll get an insight of if I can upload a video he took while kayaking. Actually I was quite impressed that on a kayak trip with two stops at riverside cafes he got 3 girls numbers. I believe the police have a word for people like him... He actually offered to take me out to a secret restaurant where we could eat dog, get drunk then chat up some "foreign ladies". Sadly I failed to appear at the designated meeting spot that evening due to a particularly difficult kiss curl which I couldn't straighten.

From there a nice 6 hour bus ride took me to Luang Prabang. Well I say nice, maybe unpleasant would be a better description as it was 40 degrees and the air conditioning that had been advertised seemed to actually just involve leaving everything open including the door. Oh also I don't even come close to fitting in the seats due to the lack of leg room but if I'm honest that has hardly come as a surprise as the locals aren't exactly massive in stature.

I'll write more about Luang Prabang and onwards over the next couple of days but seeing as I've just done a 6 hour bus ride to my current location with my knees lodged firmly into my ears sitting down for much longer is an unattractive prospect right now.

Hope all's well with everyone,

Keg