Luang Probang - Vang Vieng!!

Our last days in Luang Probang we spent exploring the town and around, we went to see the pak ou caves but enjoyed the journey there more than the acctual caves!! fun dirt track, passed 3 elephants on the way, life is bizarre here! Good food and night markets rounded off our Luang visit....

Following a not so long but equally as bumpy and beautiful journey through Laos we reached Vang Vieng. We have been here 5 days now and staying till sunday...we've met some great people to enjoy the night life with, they are all a bit mad and we have steered clear of sharing that mad concoctions in their buckets! I had a fantastic birthday, tubing down the river and we went to a bar where we had made some friends the night before and they had made me a birthday cake and the whole bar sang happy birthday!!! :) was a perfect day!

The day that folloiwed was not so relaxing, (except for the lovely cycle there) we will keep the memories in our minds for a long time....PITCH BLACK CAVE!!! crazy weird Laos tour guide....40 minutes trek in the dark with a measily flash light...finally reach this so called lagoon...not what you are picturing, it is a massive pool completely dark, freezing, sat in a dingy...and the guy thought it was hilarious to turn off the flashlight....we didnt stay long, lets say I think he got the hint we werent really enjoying the horror...just imagine The Descent...we lived it! 40 minutes stumbling trek out of our worst nightmare...(yet we laugh now) we reached daylight....evening partying away the madness and more sunbathing and here we are half way through our Vang Vieng visit....

The sun is shining, the river is fantstic, good cheap food, always something to do, even if it is just sunbathing in a hamock over the river...the scenery around us is fab! We really recomend a visit!! Much cheaper than luang probang also...

Chang Mai - Luang Probang

Our second night in Chang Mai we were joined by Marianna and friends and it was great to see a familiar face and to go out with someone who knew what was going on. We did some partying in good bars with some locals - crazy thai guy who said sophie looked like his fish....nice! also went to this place which was massive and had a great live thai band on. Chatted and danced with locals and had a good couple of days.

Next stop was Chang Rai - a slightly smaller town than Chang Rai, we found a great guest house tucked away, did some more drinking- this time in at tipee bar- the decor was hmmm...mental, music was hmmm...80's and it was a good chilled out night. After a days rest by the pool and a trip to the night market for some food from the stalls for 20p we said our farewells to the last of our buddies...

The next couple of days involved a loooottt of travelling - chang mai to chang kong to huay xai a very bizarre non existent town (but we had a great meal here where we bar b q our own fish!) then to Luang probang - killer bus journey ( was supposed to be 10 hours....actually 13 but worth it!) the views were amazing and the villages we went through were unbelievably basic and incredible to see...we were on a local bus by the way, traveling also with about 20 bags of rice, 15 or so locals, a chicken, some small birds and a puppy. Definitely a journey to remember :)

Luang Probang is stunning, the people friendly, the food very good but less spicy than thai. By the way Laos coffee....5 stars!! We had a perfect day eating by the Mekong river, mopeding to waterfalls and generally loving Laos....2 more days then off to Vang Vieng for some tubing!

Bangkok - Chang Mai and NEW PLANS!

we had a good flight over, and stayed a night in bangkok, we ate yummy pad thai and went to the bar which looks over the city, which was beautiful and even though the cocktails cost a lot but its worth one for the view!! after a few more bars we slept off our jet lag and then did an mbk center stop quickly to pick up some bits and bobs and then headed in a mad mans tuk tuk to the train station...

chang mai is a good place for shopping at the night market - much is the same as you would find in bangkok but cheaper - food stalls are good and a bargain!! the city is very relaxed and a good base for doing trecks etc...we have mainly been enjoying some sunshine, eating and drinking and meeting some people this evening which will be nice to see a familiar face!!

CHANGE OF PLANS ALLREADY!! we have decided after a long chat about what we really want to do, that we are going to skip vietnam this trip, and instead after laos head straight to the south so we get the best of the sunshine and can relax a bit more and not keep rushing around, as we want to have time to settle into places a bit more, so our new plan is, laos over the next 2 weeks - down to the west side on the south thai islands then do a weekend in malaysia to renew our visa, then up the east side of south thailand, head towards cambodia to do a week trip to see the main sights (again renew our visas) - then head back to bangkok via koh chang and koh samet!


so thats if so far, having fun but tired of city life and looking forward to realxing a bit more by the river!!!

We set off this week!!

Well the day is almost here, this Sundayday at the crack of dawn we jet off to..... the Far East!

We are having a last manic week of packing and panicking.... but in all we are ready to hit the road. We hope to see as many of you before we do head off but if not have a great few months and we look forward to see you when we are back, when we will look like bronzed goddesses :)

lots of love Soph and Claud xx