Laos

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your comments, it is nice to hear from everyone and find out little snippets of wht is going on back home.

The second leg of the slow boat ride went quicker than expected so we arrived in Luang Prabang sooner than expected. The 8 of us who had been on the boat together decided that we all wanted to stay in the same guest house so after checking out a few options we settled on a guesthouse which was really nice. We had a spacious room with 3 double beds and it only cost 2 pounds per person per night! Bargain! We all went out for tea and a couple of drinks that first night.

We woke up early on our second day so decided to get organised and sort out our travel plans for the next week. We visited a local travel agents and booked a mini bus to take us to Vang Vieng after our 3 days in Luang Prabang before heading to the capital city Vientiane. We also booked a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi in Vietnam to save time. The flight only takes approx1 hour as opposed to a 24hour bus journey! Once this was all sorted we explored the town on foot. We all really liked Luang Prabang, it is a really beautiful place and the general vibe is very laid back. There is a cerfew in place so all the bars had to stop serving at 11.30pm. It is strictly enforced so you don't see many people on the streets after this time. We had decided we wanted to book a cooking course for the following day so we visited a local Laos restaurant called Tamarind to book a spot on an evening course.

That evening we went for tea at a restaurant overlooking the Mekong River. It was a really beautiful setting and we all enjoyed tasty Laos dishes. After tea we met up with the others and sampled some Laos fruit wine. We had heard of a bowling alley that was open late into the night a few kilometers out of town so we all hopped in a Tuk Tuk to take us bowling! It was a good fun night and we even got a few strikes between us! As it had been a late night we had a lazy morning before heading out to visit some of the temples.

As we had booked a cooking course we had to be at the restaurant for 4.40pm. When we arrived we were given a welcome drink of lemongrass and ginger juice while we waited for a TukTuk to take us to where are class was being held. There was 7 of us on the course (us 3, an American couple and an Australian mother and daughter). The course started with us sampling a lemongrass and ginger tea before we were shown to our cooking stations! The man leading the course gave us an introduction to what we were going to be cooking. The menu consisted of Jeow Mak Keva (an aubergine dip), Mok Pa (steamed fish in banana leaves) Ua Si Khai (a chicken dish stuffed in lemongrass) and sticky rice. Laura and Amy were given a vegetarian option of tofuand potatoes as a meat/fish substitute. There was a table of ingredients at the front and before each dish we were let loose at our stations. We picked the ingredients and began chopping, mixing and marinating. All of the vegetables, herbs and spices were really fresh so the flavours were intense. After cooking for a couple of hours we all sat down to feast on what we had just created. The fish dish was a favourite! We were given a copyof the recipes to take away so no doubt they will be rereated when we are home! We all really enjoyed the course it was nice to do something different. We are thinking of maybe doing another course in Vietnam so we wil be experts in Asian cooking by the time we get home! The journey back to the hotel was delayed as our TukTuk got a puncture. So after a quick repair job we were on our way back for an early night as we were due to leave for Vang Vieng at 8.30am on a mini bus in the morning.

We were told the journery to Vang Viang was goig to take 5 hours. It was more like 7hrs 30 by the time we arrived. The roads were horrendous, we spent most of the jouney bouncing up and down and swerving to avoid cattle which were laid out or wandering all over the roads! It was raining pretty heavy when we eventually arrived so luckily the first guesthouse we arrived at was OK. That night we had a wander around the town had some tea and drinks. Vang Vieng is a fun place to be but it is very commercialised it felt like we could have been on a package hoilday to somewhere like Turkey! Our second day in Vang Vieng was action packed! We decided to go Tubing which basically consisted of us hiring a large inner tube, being driven 3kilometers up the river in a tuk tuk and basically tubing down the river stopping at bars along the river bank. As it is raining season the river was flowing pretty fast....quite acary actually! There was a big group of us doing it together so we knew it would be a funny experience. We decided just to get one tube between the 3 of us so we could help eachother. Our first river crossing was crazy....we all hung onto the tube and had to try and cross the river but it was flowing so fast we missed the bar we were aiming for but luckily after a quick shout for help! on of the workers threw us a rope and pulled us in. They have people all the way down throwing you ropes to get you into their bars! All of the bars had music playing and everyone was dancing, people spraypainting you and giving you headbands to wear. One bar even had a slide which you climbed up to to slide into the river. It was a crazy experience....we all looked a state by the end of it but well worth doing!

We only have one more night in Vang Vieng and then we head to Vientiane the Capital. Our bus picks us up at 10am tomorrow and we will stay there for 2 nights before flying to Vietnam. We have loved our time in Laos so far!

Catch up with everyone soon. Hope everyone is well xxxxxx