Bad BeerLao!

Well guys, we've travelled far and wide since the last update with many a long journey!

After Bangkok we got the bus to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) for a couple of days where we did a hilltribe trek, an elephant ride through the jungle and bamboo rafting. All were really good and the photos have been updated to show what we did.

It was pretty cool to get out in the jungle visiting hilltribes after spending so long lazing on the beach. We went to two tribes at seperate locations each having their own special trades.
After this we went for the elephant trek in the jungle which was great fun - and also a first for both of us. We had "the Daddy" of the pack who insisted on trying to climb up really steep hills to munch on the bamboo! Naughty Dumbo! It got a bit hairy when our guide decided to jump off our elephant leaving us to fend for ourselves!!!
We then went bamboo rafting down a river which we have no idea what it was called, but was an experience to remember! We thought it was going to be relaxing but ended up going through some rapids and getting drenched, as well as seeing quite a few people fall off the raft into the rocks! :o)
Jade also had a little visitor on the raft when we went through some bushes. We all know how Jade is petrified of bugs, well a big spider jumped off the bush onto her back then crawled into her hair! She nearly capsized the raft screaming and jumping around trying to get me to get it off! Girls eh!!! She sure does attract them!

We then booked ourselves transport into Laos to Luang Phabang, which took 3 days - the longest journey ever, but turned out to be good fun because of the people we met.
We had 1 day travelling in a minibus to the border, followed by a 2 day, 1 night trip down the Mekong River on a longboat.
We stopped off in a small town in the middle of nowhere, where we still managed to catch the opening games for the world cup! :o) They don't have electricity at night there but, a guy put on a generator just for us!
The two day journey was really good fun and we saw some amazing scenery. It also helped that two of our boat gang had guitars to help pass the time!

We finally arrived at Luang Phabang and rewarded ourselves with beer, shooters and the England game! We drank a considerable amount of BeerLao which leaves you with the worst hangover!!! Didn't stop us drinking it every night though!
We spent a fair amount of time chilling here (as the place was really cool) after the long journey but still managed to catch a few of the sights too. We went to Khong Si waterfall (which was amazing) where our Tuk Tuk broke down and filled with smoke, climbed up Sacred Hill for a panoramic view, shopped at the night market, walked around the penninsula etc etc...

The whole gang from the boat stuck together and we all travelled to Vang Vieng by bus.
There wasn't much to this town and Jade saw even less as she was ill here and spent the day in bed. I however, went tubing down the Nong Xai river with Tommy, Renee, Chris and Mike. The river is lined with bars and loads of bamboo structures to throw yourself off after having a few BeerLao's. Very cool and very relaxing and Jade was very jealous she missed it!
As this was pretty much the only thing to do here, we decided to move on to Vientiane. Instead of taking the incredibly uncomfortable and boring bus, we decided to kayak our way there down the Nam Lik river. This was sooo much better than the bus and we wish we could travel between more places like that instead.
We stopped off for a BBQ after negotiating some rapids, where only Mike fell in, followed by some cliff jumping (check out the photos).
On the whole it was a great day until we had to get a tuk tuk for the last part of the journey, where they crammed 18 people into this pick up truck plus all their luggage - and if you know how much just Jade and I bought travelling then you'll know just how crammed that would be!!! Tuk Tuk's don't seem to be loving us all that much lately as this one nearly conked out too. The driver then foolishly decided to take off the radiator cap with a very hot engine and also while the engine was still running, which resulted in the cap shattering and covering Mike with boiling hot water!

Vientiane was pretty drab compared to the rest of Laos and we were expecting more from the capital. We only stuck around here for 2 days as there really was nothing to do! The group finally split up here after hanging around wathcing the world cup and playing cards. We all headed in our seperate directions, although have planned to meet up with a few of them in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Which brings us back to Bangkok after another 11 hour bus journey! We are just stopping over night here before yet another 11 hour bus journey to Cambodia tomorrow morning! Oh the joys!

Hope all is well with everyone.

Speak soon - only 5 weeks until we are home! :o(
K&J
xxx