Introduction

The following blog charts my time on the Gap adventures Indochina discovery tour, complete with relevant commentary, photo's, videos and the occasional anecdote. I hope it will prove a useful tool for anyone considering completing the tour, or travelling in the same region.

I've put the blog together so that in runs in chronological order (day one first) so you don't need to worry about scrolling back to the beginning, just read on and enjoy.... :)

(I created this blog as part of my 'Ca$h in my computer' project, which you can read more about here:
www.cashinmycomputer.blogspot.com)

Day One; Bangkok

I began day one by manoeuvring myself and my (now rather decrepit) luggage across the city from the hostel I had been staying in to the Bangkok Centre Hotel and checked in.

In the evening I met the group and tour guide downstairs for a briefing in the lobby, after which we were taken by our guide for a saunter into some of Bangkok's many back streets where we found a place to have some pretty epic and very cheap Thai street food as a first meal together as a group.

Most of us opted to head back by around 11pm as the starting time for the next day was...Wait for it...5.45 am! Ah!

Day Two: Bangkok to Siem Reap

Today we drove from Bangkok to Poipet to cross the border into Cambodia. An early start to the drive meant watching the sun rise over the city as we drove out. The four hours to the border went quickly, and we passed through the border pretty smoothly; with the added pleasure of sampling 'self flush' crouch toilets for the first time (luckily I had enough faith in myself to get it wrong and hence removed every item of clothing I was wearing from the waist down first because my aim was as poor as I predicted; something to work on...)

On the other side of the border the difference between Thailand and Cambodia is immediate and stark. The second we entered the country the streets were suddenly adorned with children in rags, begging for food and money. It's advisable to not give money to the children because in doing so you encourage the continued use of children as a means of income for adults, but sometimes it is really difficult to say no to and it tugs a lot at your conscience.
Like Thailand the road system is somewhat alien to anything one might expect to see in the west; but everything is more exaggerated. The helmetless triplets that you might have seen tearing about on mopeds in Thailand suddenly have animals, poles, lengths of wood, kitchen sinks etc strapped on (or balanced precariously on) for good measure. 
From the border we drove two hours further into Siem Reap, had lunch in a nice restaurant and then made our way back to our hotel/home for the next two nights; welcomed with fresh cold towels, a glass of orange juice, and a spotless, comfortable and modern room fitted with air con=sweet.

In the evening we took tuk tuks to a village very close to the centre of Siem Reap where we were greeted by a local family who showed us around.

A girl of 20 (who looked significantly younger) talked to us in perfect English all about life in the village; how they grow crops, where they go to school, family life, the animals etc.

Every person we passed smiled and waved, and then sent the children over to say hello.

After spending some time walking around the village and taking in the smells, sounds and sights of it's daily life we went back to the home, washed out feet and hands, and went to eat in a covered area sitting on the floor with mats and pillows. The food was realllly delicious and more than enough, and after dinner the children all came up to play with us...spending most of their time looking at our cameras and phones. All of the children were happy, confident and affectionate, and it felt really special to spend time with them.
After dark we took tuk tuks back into Siem Reap and went to explore the night market, before heading back to the hotel room for some much needed sleep!

Day Three; The temples

If the shock of getting up at 5.30am yesterday was not enough, we were up today at 4.30am to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat!
Sunrise was a bit of a let down; a cloudy morning meant it was far from spectacular; and alas as the light hit the temple the biggest thing we were greeted with was a large sheet of green scaffolding. But from back on the main road the sunrise did look quite nice over the river and the entrance walls (though it took alot of positioning to take a snap shot not interrupted by the hundreds of other tourists).

Our tour guide seemed to want to fill every moment of silence that fell upon us with commentary and after almost thirty minutes of uninterrupted speech he stopped only after he had added, with an intense look of concentration, that 'this [Angkor Wat] is man made. Ok, this man made not natural, was built. Noooo natural, man made. Ok!'. Hope we're all taking notes...? And meanwhile very randomly to our left was a Chinese man with a wind pipe tract thing fitted; who sounded like something out of the exorcist each time he spoke, which when we were sat in total darkness to begin with was far too much like comic genius for 5am, and we all ended up in tears trying not to laugh at the set up; sat on a wall in the dark listening to our tour guides random and lengthy spiels of semi-coherent information interrupted sporadically by the gargles of the grim reaper!

We ate breakfast at Agkor Wat then headed to Ta Prohm (tomb raider) which is the temple that has trees growing all over it:

After that we went to another temple (the name escapes me) that had a cool bridge lined with Buddha statues:

And after that was Bayon. I think this temple is summed up best in the words of our tour guide (who by now I had decided was actually somewhat adorable and actually very knowledgeable) 'all theses so big faces, these big Buddah smiley faces':

We had lunch and finally we went back to Angkor wat and spent about an hour there (dyyyyying in the heat):

oops there goes that gorgeous green scaffolding...

After we were dropped back in our hotel a group of us girls decided to go and get $4 pedicures. Then we hung out in our rooms for a couple of hours, and had dinner in a local resteraunt. I ordered prawn kormer, garlic naan and rice (and I want to remember it forever because it was so delicious I could cry just remembering it). Anyway, we were all too tired to go out drinking, but not quite ready to go back to the hotel so...we went for a 'fish massage'. The ones where you put your feet into a tank of fish that nibble all the dead skin off for you...very fun. After about ten minutes of screaming I did end up actually really quite liking it, and my feet were silky soft afterwards. Because it was $1 I then also had a foot massage as well...my feet have never looked so good!

And that was day 2.

Day Four; Siem Reap to Phmon Penh

Today was largely set aside for travelling; we made the 6-7 hour journey from Siem Reap to the capital Phmon Penh on a local bus.
I used the time to read a book called Bophana about a girl who lived under the Khmer rouge regime and was killed after being detained in the infamous s-21 prison. The next day we were set to visit both the s-21 prison followed by the biggest killing field found so far, where some 20,000 people were killed by the Khmer rouge; mostly in brutal ways, and where 8000 skulls are now housed in a large memorial.
The Khmer rouge were a communist group headed by a man called Pol Pot. After a civil war with backing from the Vietnamese the Khmer rouge took over in 1975, and quickly engaged in one of the most brutal regimes the world has known. Anyone educated; teachers, doctors, scholars, etc was killed. Anyone who opposed the regime was killed. Everyone was forced to write biographies of their lives and anyone dubbed to have enough intelligence to oppose the insane regime was killed. The population were forced out of cities and into the farms where they were forced to work gruelling shifts and fed meagre rations; there were no exceptions. If you were a fit young man, an old woman, or even a pregnant lady your treatment was the same. Protestors were taken to jail and never seen again. The world was shut out and the borders were closed. In Phmon Penh the Khmer rouge had their most brutal prison; s-21, and the biggest killing field, where people were hacked to death to save on bullets nightly. In 1979, the Vietnamese came in to overthrow the Khmer rouge and were shocked at what they found. One forth of the population at that time had been wiped out; over 2 million Cambodians were massacred by the Khmer rouge, whose soldiers often had to hit targets of 50 murders a day each. Bophana is much like the Cambodian Anne Frank and her story made the whole thing seem more real, and I would recommend it to be read as a good insight into Cambodia’s heartbreakingly brutal recent past.
We arrived in Phmon Penh in the evening and took tuk tuks down the river where we had dinner together (I decided to go ahead and try a local delicacy that was passed around-deep fried spider; I ate one leg and it freaked me right out so I opted against trying the snake as well), and then headed home for a sleep.

Image taken from Google (I forgot my camera this night)

Day Five; Phnom Penh

We were up early today to meet a local guide who took us to the s-21 prison and killing fields. He explained that three of his family members went missing in the regime and he is sure they were killed but does not to date know how or where; he says that every Cambodian family will have a similar story such was the widespread impact of the regime. The prison was shocking; many of the instruments used for torture are still on display there, as are the iron beds and chains used to restrain and torture prisoners. The walls are lined with photographs that the Khmer rouge took of all the new prisoners (all ultimately victims), a haunting number of them are very young.

Of 17,000 prisoners housed there over the regimes 4 years, seven survived. One of the survivors was at the prison when we were there talking to another group about his experiences. Our guide talked to us about some of the common practices of guards in the prison, and how it all worked. It was too depressing to want to recount but I felt like hearing it was an important part of understanding the suffering Cambodians went through; just 35 years ago.

After the prison we went to view one of the largest killing fields, were some 20,000 Cambodians were murdered (mostly the s21 prisoners). Upon arrival you are greeted by a tall glass memorial which holds some 8000 skulls found in the mass graves. Walking around there are still rags and small fragments of bone under foot, and large pits with signs explaining what types of bodies were mainly found in them. I think the most horrific was the grave next to a tree where witnesses claim small children and babies were held by the feet and smashed to death, before being tossed into the hole in the ground. The enitre place is so horrific it almost defies belief; the scale of brutality made it hard to comprehend, until I saw a tiny babies knitted sweater preserved in the small museum on the sight; and suddenly the realness of it hit me, and I went to sit outside for a while.

In the evening we took tuk tuks down to the river for dinner, and in stark contrast to the morning we then went to a bar where a local Cambodian rock and roll cover band where performing, and wound up playing a giant game of Cambodian Jenga with some of the bar maids.

Day Six; Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville

Up early today we left Phnom Penh on a local bus and headed down to Sihanoukville; a beach town. We arrived at lunch time and spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. On my way out the water two young boys came rushing up to me and grabbed my hands and started jumping about in the waves with me and giggling with infectious laughter. I played with them for a while then went back to my sun-bed. They came over and put their clothes (which were shabby and dirty) with my things and their bin bags full of the cans and bottles they were recycling then went back to play in the water. When they got out they came to sit with me while they dried off. I helped the smaller one with his t-shirt, although both boys were only just old enough to know how to dress themselves. After giggling a bit more sitting on the sun-bed with me they grabbed their sacks and went back to work. They were totally alone on the beach; it was anyone’s guess if they had an adult at home sending them to work or if they were street children going it alone. I sat and imagined what it would be like if two children under the age of 5 were found wondering around alone on a British beach. Half the entire population of Cambodia is under 18, and a large number of these are street children. When a problem becomes common place we have to just extend our tolerances and limits to accommodate it I guess. And Cambodians seem to have the biggest capacity to carry on normal life with a six foot smile in the face of adversity I have ever come across.
In the evening we went for dinner along the beach; the disco strip of restaurants and bars only betrayed it was in Cambodia at all by the occasional beggar and child street sellers wondering by. We talked about the fact it seemed a nicer place to live though than the big city, and that being poor there seemed nicer than being poor in the city.

Day Seven; Sihanoukville

We got up ealry today and went on a boat tour of some of the local islands. We went snorkelling too but unfortunately we were given childrens snorkels which didn't really work and the area we chose had pretty poor visibility. But the beach where we spent most the day was nice, and we had a bbq on it which was yummy.
In the evening we went for dinner again on the beach, then headed back for a much wanted sleep.

Day Eight; Sihanoukville to Chau Doc

Today we left Cambodia and crossed the border into Vietnam.

After getting to our hotel and eating lunch, some of us walked down to the Mekong with some locals who took us for a boat tour.

We cruised down the river in a low wooden boat, and stopped at the home of some fish farmers, who let us feed the 70,000 fish they housed under their floors, and they spoke to us a little about their business. Then we went to one of the banks and walked across a wooden bridge supported by stilts and went to see a woman hand making scarves. After trying on some of the saris I couldn't resist and ended up buying a scarf.

We made our way back to the hotel afterwards and then jumped on some motorbike taxis which drove us up a mountain to watch the sunset over Chau Doc. In the city I felt surprsingly confident and reassured tearing in and out of tight spaces, the sound of hundreds of horns filling the air and the wind rushing by. By the time we started to race up the mountain at, I would hazard, around 50mph with blind corners, on coming traffic, pot holes, stones, hair pin turns all to boot, my hands swiftly left the 'cool' grip on the back of the bike and relocated themselves tightly around the drivers' waist.

At the top we watched the sunset and had a beer, then it was 'weeee' all the way as we ripped back down the mountain. We stopped briefly at a local temple at the bottom then we were taken home..."it's so much more fun in the dark!"....

In the hotel we had dinner (I tried a piece of the 'rat' our tour leader bought for the table; I won't lie it tasted pretty good, and disconcertingly familiar...)and then the entire group trudged wearily up to bed, with another early start on the bill for tomorrow as we make our way to Saigon (Ho chi min).

Day Nine; Chau Doc to Saigon

In Saigon we walked around the city centre, stopping at Notre Dam (the French colonised Vietnam in the past), a post office and a few other places.

I was more interested in the ice cream shop I swiftly escaped too, followed by the markets where I spent the rest of the afternoon. In the evening we met some new people joining the tour, and went for a traditional Vietnamese bbq. Here I tried deep fried crickets, and frogs legs. I decided against tasting the scorpion because it apparently tastes like liver which I hate. The cricket was GROSS, but the frogs legs were kind of yummy (not that I'd be in any kind of hurry to order them again though).

After dinner we went to a nearby bar to watch some Vietnamese music, and then we went to a good cheap bar we found further up the street. After several shots and lots and lots of cheap vodka, Vitto and I decided we were pool champions and went to play some locals. After loosing we then took command of the juke box, and we ended the night all on the dance floor jumping around to the killers.

Yep, don't forget that COCKAGE charge if you fancy b.y.o'ing!

I confidently announced outside that we did not need a taxi because I could get us home on foot no problem, and set straight off in the wrong direction. Luckily the Scottish girls were there to re-point me, and we all sauntered back to the hotel.

Day Ten; Saigon to Nha Trang

I started the day with a lie in (sooooo nice), then went to a nearby coffee shop for brunch. Met up with some more people from the group at miday and hit the markets again. Then spent some time in the hotel reading and chilling out, before heading to the train station to catch an overnight train to Nha Trang.

We had small cabins with 4 to a room, though for most of the night we were all crammed into one or two chatting and having fun. Then Scott got his gitar out, and we bought lots of beer off the train lady and sat singing, drinking and having fun until we finally all fell asleep.

 

Day eleven; Nha Trang

After a couple of hours of very distrubed sleep, we left the train at 5am and arrived in our hotel. Not all the rooms were ready so the suggestion was to watch the sunrise on the beach while we waited. Alas what those of us too lazy/tired to bother actually did was whip out our sleeping bags and dose off on the sun loungers around the pool like hobos. I was woken up when it got light in a pool of confused dribble and relocated to my newly made up room. Couldn't get back to sleep so headed down to the beach and spent a few hours relaxing there. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so you'll have to just take my word for it; it was a lovely beach!


Got back, showered etc and then we all went for a very posh dinner in a beautiful sea front restaurant which was delicious.

Day Twelve; Nha Trang to Hoi An

Still in our lovely hotel in Nha Trang, after a small lie in and breakfast I headed off to a local market with some of the guys. The outside was mostly set aside for locals with fish, meat, rusty drills, fruit, coal and other such on sale. Inside was the tourist tat; where I suddenly became obsessed with the ornate chopsticks on offer and ended up spending a ridiculous amount on them; dragging Claire down with me by persuading her she also needed them in her life and we could haggle for a better price if we bought two sets!
We took the looongest walk back ever in order to take in the backstreets, and then headed to a spa for a mud bath! (One advantage in this was that the taxi ride there also gave those of us too lazy to go exploring on foot at 6am the morning before (ekhem) a chance to see some of the sights of Nha Trang). Anyway, the mud bath was equivocal to sitting in milkshake (or so I’d imagine), but very enjoyable.

When we came back we had a cheap local meal, saw the night market and then headed off for another over night train to Hoi An.

We were warned this train was not so nice...well, I'll be honest; it wasn’t. The room was crawling with cockroaches which were so plentiful we eventually gave up on making a fuss and killing them as they appeared, and resorted to wrapping clothing around our heads and ignoring them. In other cabins there were mice running about under the beds, and the beds themselves were dressed in dirty sheets (sleeping sacks recommended). However, we realised three things. One was that we had the nicest section of the train, and in some of the other carriages people were sleeping on wooden slats on the floor whilst we had beds. Second, this was according to an American Lady we met outside a huge improvement to the service as it was a few years back. She was delighted with how clean it was, and how good the beds were; so I can only assume what it might have been like before. And thirdly, beer makes all things better.
It wasn't the end of the world by any means, but not for the faint hearted or hygiene obsessed either!

Night everyone!

Day Thirteen; Hoi An

Hoi An is a beautiful town renouned for its 300 tailors. We spent most of the day wondering through the quaint little lanes and streets and shopping in the botiques and markets.

 

In the afternoon I went to get a massage with another girl from the tour; which were bordering on violent to be honest; but I did really enjoy turning to the side to see Stephs lady clasping her hands together in a prayer like position, and then bashing a confused and frightened looking Steph on top of the head with them repeatedly. The laugh that escaped my lips resulted in my woman digging into my neck so hard with her thumbs I thought I might pass out....I felt way good after it though!
We had a nice meal together in the evening and then went to a bar for a couple of drinks. J.P persuaded us to try shots of 9 snakes and a bird wine...so called because it is a jar of wine with 9 snakes and a bird in the jar (funnily enough). I'm so glad I didn't look at the jar until after I had the shot!

Day Fourteen; Hoi An

I got up early today and went to do a cooking class with a famous Vietnamese cheff named Madam V (who has since appeared in Gordon Ramsey's TV series in the Vietnam Episode).

Madam V

First we went to the market in smaller groups and were shown all sorts of different local produce and had a talk about how it is sourced and what was what.

This one made it into my top ten favourite things I saw on a motorbike.

Back at the restaurant we got pinnyed up and followed the teaching of madam V who taught us to make 5 different traditional Vietnamese dishes; which we ate as we went along...happy!

We then rode back into town, had a coffee and did some last minute Hoi An shopping.

We went for dinner and tonight I just headed back because it's another early start tomorrow to marble mountain and Hue.

After cooking class Steph, Clair and I took some push bikes (cute ones with baskets on the front) and rode along the river down to the beach (about 5km away).

Day Fifteen: Hoi An to Hue

We took a bus early this morning to marble mountain; and climbed far too many steps for 8.30am. At the top we visited a large cave with Buddha statues carved in, used as a hospital during wars, and also some temples.

After marble mountain we continued on the bus for a few more hours into Hue. We had lunch then jumped on some motorbike taxis for a tour of the town. We saw the citadel, and then headed into the countryside. We went totally off road and were literally driving along mud tracks which got so tight in points we were driving with our limbs in the shrubbery.

We drove to an old arena where the kings used to make tigers and elephants fight. After that we drove back to a village where locals make insense sticks, and had a go at making our own; yep, alot harder than it looks. My driver proudly put my deformed stick on the front of the bike all the same though.

 After that, we drove up bunker hill which gives an amazing view down over the perfume river; considered the nicest in Vietnam.

After that we drove back into the village lanes (everbody breath in we had about a cm to spare either side half the way), and went to meet a woman who makes conical hats. This particular woman has just one arm. Her father was killed in the war before she was born, so she was raised with her mother. She was told by everyone that she couldn't do anything because she was disabled and that she should just go and try to get money from the government; but she was determined not to and learnt to make hats, and has now become famous in her area for making such beautiful hats; which take great skill to make with two hands let alone one. After that we drove through the rice fields and watched the farmers working for a short while.

After that we stopped for a coffee, and after that we came home. After that I applied for an award for saying 'after that' the most times in one paragraph....

In the evening we went for dinner then to have competitions in a local bar to see who could drink buckets the fastest, and wound up dancing the night away.

Day Sixteen; Hue to Ha Long Bay

Awoke to the sounds of my hotel door bell ringing. Midway through scrubbing the permanent marker tatoos decorating my leg in the bath (don't ask), I hobbled to the door in a towel to be greeted by a gaggle of giggling girls; and arranged to meet a couple of hours later to go to the co-op to purchase supplies for the train.

After about five minutes of walking we were horrified to realise the supermarket was across the worlds longest bridge, so jumped on some cyclos instead; fun. Bought supplies for the train journey and went for lunch with whoever we managed to bump into from the group along the way.

Later we caught the train and didn't do much aside from lull about in a room together chatting. Had a reasonably early night if such a thing is possible when you aren't going to sleep, and woke up at around 4am when a far too jolly JP woke us up. Freezing cold we ended up in fleeces and hoodies, and swapped from the train to a minibus to continue another 3 hours to Ha long bay, and into our hotel which looked straight out over the mountains.

Day Seventeen; Ha Long Bay

After an extra couple of hours sleep in the room it was straight back up and down to the harbour for a 4 hour boat ride through the 1,987 mountains in Ha long bay. We boarded a boat that resembled a contratption straight out of pirates of the Carribean, and toured the area, stopping at one of the villages to see how they fished, and also at the biggest cave. It was cold. But very quiet, and very beautiful.

Went for dinner in the evening, and then headed back to the room to watch HBO movies and sleeeeeeep!

Day Eighteen; Ha Long Bay- Hanoi

Early morning start again today; we headed from Halong bay to Hanoi on the bus.
In Hanoi we did a short walking tour around the centre with JP, and had coffee on a roof overlooking a lake.
Strolling through the lanes I think I found my SIGN OF THE WEEEK:

Yep here I am outside Creative Oriental Craft Kingdom aka 'COCK'

Then we went to go and see a water puppet show; which I thought was grand even if everyone else was dying of boredom!

Underwater puppets; what is not to love?!

In the evening we went for dinner and then to a pub quiz night; the questions were ridiculously hard but we won a booby prize for loosing; which was good news :)

Day Nineteen; Hanoi

Last day as a big group :(
We went for coffee, fun and froliks down by the lake in the morning, and afterwards some of us carried on to see Ho chi mins' morcelium, the one pillar pagoda and botanical gardens. Me, Claire and Steph then took motorbike taxis (scary in Hanoi!) back to the lake and 'got lost' for the next two hours in the backstreets.

Back at the hotel we had a rest then got ready for dinner. JP bought everyone a beer at a street food stall, and then we headed to a really nice resteraunt for a farewell dinner.

Had a reasonably early night after dinner (around midnight) with a 5.30 am start on the cards for the morning-bleugh!

Day Twenty; Hanoi to Lac Sao (Laos)

Today was a loooong drive from Hanoi up though north Vietnam and then across into Laos.The views along the way were really nice; the still water that sits on top of the velvet green rice fields below the mountains reflects them back like a mirror; land reflected in land (driver was a maniac though so pinched a google image to remember that part!)

Google image 'noth vietnam scenery' also to get an idea of what we drove through; really wish we had time to stop and trek for a few days there...next time...:)

The fog at the top of the mountain where the border is was ridiculous; unable to see more than 10 meters in front plus freezing we marched our cases across. As one guard inspected my passport the wind blew the water off the top of his umbrella all over my head. Busy spluttering at the icy shock I snatched my passport back with closed eyed confusion and then wheeled my case straight over the top of his very shiny black shoes. I did say sorry but I think I knew the gist of what he was saying without translation and sort of ran for my life a bit down the hill after the others.

We stopped in Lac Sao which is a very small town that doesn't really boast much but a place to rest after an exhausting journey. Tried the first of many baskets of sticky rice for dinner; nice enough.

Day Twenty one; Lac Sao-Vientiane

Got up earrly again today and headed to Vientiane (the capital city of Laos). We walked around the city with JP, and then we decided to take a tuk tuk to the Buddha park (a park filled with different Buddha statues). It was really beautiful.

In the evening we went for dinner at another friends resteraunt (resteraunt employs and supports disadvantaged youth), and stopped in a bar for cocktails and chats before bed time.

Day Twenty two; Vientiane-Van Vieng

Went to visit a temple this morning with Claire and Caroline, and then walked up to the Laos version of the arch de triumph and climbed up to the top to take in the view.

Had lunch afterwards in a scandanavian bakery which was NICE, then jumped in the bus for a 3 hour drive to Vang Vieng.

Arrived in time to walk down to the river and watch the sun set behind the mountains over a drink...which was stunning.

Day Twenty three; Vang Vieng

Got up early and went for a morning of Kayaking. It was beautiful but I don't think I quite had the mussle power for three hours of non stop rowing, and I definately lacked the common sense to steer the thing. I did love the part when we headed towards the rapids and the guide shouted 'stop'...to me and Claire...really? We couldn't turn left at the mini rapids resulting in us getting stuck on a rock and having to be rescued from 6 inches of water...why would he think we'd know how to 'stop' when we were pummeling towards the fast ones? We came out backwards at the other end all the same though feeling tres smug because we didn't crash into a tree and capsize, like Thomas and Olda (teehee).

After the kayaking we went for lunch. I was feeling EXHAUSTED but next on the agenda was a bike ride which I really didn't want to miss. After lots of bike testing I ended up on a skinny wheeled rubbish bike with dodgy breaks, thinking it would be fine because JP said the road was flat. He didn't explain that whilst the hills on the road were few and far between the enitre route was off road rocks and stones, so basically my whole body was jerked and vibrated violently for the one hour and thirty minutes it took me in the mid day heat to manouvere myself 7km. I almost didn't enjoy it, but everytime I looked up it was impossible not to be knocked back by how beautiful the surroundings were (yep, I had a mirror on the bike-lol kidding). At the end of the trail we stopped at a 'blue lagoon'; where I swang off a rope swing and into the water to cool down. Actually it was freeeeezing so I got straight back out, but very nice haha.

I'm the one swinging on the rope...

At the blue lagoon there was a trail for a cave that we followed. The trail pretty much turned into mountain climbing, which was fun if not slightly nerve racking in slippery flip flops. When we got to the cave we ploughed in with no torch, and soon realised it was, funnily enough, pitch black inside. Luckily some tourists donated us their rented head torch so we could climb right in; appreciating in the light how huge it was, considering we had already climbed through two or three rooms to get to the one we were currently in. Wish we had longer to explore more but I defo enjoyed the hour I spent pretending to be Indiana Jones with Thomas and Olda.

We climbed back down and rode home afterwards; stopping to take ample pictures of the sunset which was again beautiful, and arrived with just enough light to see a few meters ahead and park the bikes back up at the shop.

Went for dinner straight afterwards, then went home and collapsed back into bed.

Candle at the dinner table

Day Twenty Four; Vang Vieng-Luang Prabang

Woke up to the alarm this morning and tried to sit up only to discover my body was no longer working, and winded up having to put some literal meaning into the phrase 'rolled out of bed'. An equally sore Claire got up besides me and we heaved our way through the last of our packing and then hobbled out to the minibus to begin a journey from Bealzabub himself!

Though fully aware that we would be winding around the mountains today I don't think I was quite prepared to just corkscrew without one tiny bit of straight road for so long. Every five bends the road was punctuated by another 's' sign in a triangle, just to remind you it was not over, and this went on for SIX solid hours, up and down, up and down, round and round, round and round. Caroline was sick, Claire was wide eyed and silent, the norwegians over dosed on travel sick pills and fell asleep and I lay with my head on my bag, eyes squeezed shut and the phrase 'don't throw up don't throw up' on mantra style repeat for the duration.

We arrived exhausted then went for a walking tour of Luang prabang. I felt quite alot like passing out on the way over a bridge and up some steep stairs to a river side restaurant for late lunch, but the food and 7up saved me.

The bridge over the river

After we were all orientated we decided to go for massages as the hobbling from yesterdays exhersion was still a plague upon us all. The one hour a tiny Laos woman spent crunching my back (literally it sounded horrific) back into place was a good one, and I felt like a new person afterwards. New enough to walk through the entire night market, and buy a chocolate crepe for good measure...yuhuhum.
Went back after this and was asleep by 9.30pm.

Day Twenty five; Luang Prabang

Got up at 5.30am this morning to watch Tak Bat (the tradition of monks collecting food from the faithful). The people that prepare food for the monks get up very early to do so, and station themselves on straw mats along the street filling the bowls of the passing monks. Luang Prabang is tipped as one of the more interesting places to watch this because of the number of monks; lines of up to thirty monks at a time pass by in brightly coloured robes to collect the food silently.
We watched from right across the street in silence, taking a few discrete photographs. However, many tourists decided to walk right alongside the monks, putting cameras right in their faces whilst talking loudly with friends. I would encourage anyone considering going to watch Tak Bat NOT to do this; the monks are humble and shy and its uncomfortable to see their sacred traditions being turned into a noisy spectacle.




Afterwards we went up to the elephant sanctuary for an elephant ride through a jungle trail. Actually quite scary in the rain, but also very good fun.

Had a wonder around Luang prabang afterwards and had lunch with Claire, but otherwise spent most of the day on the internet updating the blog.
Dinner and last minute bargain hunting in the market followed in the evening, before heading back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Day Twenty six; Luang Prabang-Slow Boat

Up early again this morning, we left Luang prabang to head for our home and transport for the next two days; a slow boat along the Mekong river and into Thailand.

A freak storm meant the usually uninterupted 35 degree sunshine was traded in for a 12 degree icy down pour. On the boat far from sunbathing out on deck and watching the beautiful scenery go by we wound up huddled in heaps of blankets over tea, coffee and the occasional beer, passing the time by reading and playing cards. It was also Oda's 21st birthday (que a barrage of "sigghhh, twenty-one ay" nostalgia laiden comments) which meant caaaaake. :)

We got off the boat to visit a remote hill side village; much to the villagers' amusement. Judging by the laughter and smiles, I think watching a group of poncho clad farangs slide down the mudhills outside their homes was possibly the best thing they had seen for a while.

One old woman came to hold out an arm to guide us down safely; I remember looking at her gentle face and thinking that she just looked like the lovliest person ever. Glad JP got a good photo of her...

The poverty in the village was very stark; one teacher goes between 135 mixed aged school children, the school consisting of 4 bare rooms. The village has no electricity, running water, doctors etc. It was an eye opener to put it into words of sort. But the children seemed happy and healthy, and the villagers seemed quietly content with their simple lifestyle, which they could trade in for the towns and cities if they wanted to, and to that end I felt like I was learning far more from glimpsing at their lives than they were from learning about mine.

We stopped overnight in a small town (one street in size) and had some drinks at "the best and only bar in town" run by a hip young Laos couple; the woman joining us to dance to the black eyed peas for the night. I can vouch for it; it really was the best and only bar in town :) Oh and how could I forget, our insane local guide (who somehow managed to spend some time as a practising monk) told us story after story at dinner after becomming intoxicated with one shot of rice wine. Amongst his list of quotes/funny stories I recall;

 "my friend, he monk, he don't know how to be with lady, and when he try, he think her noises are because he has killed her, so he run away"

 "is it true in England you make the ice cream with the ladies breast milk?"

"in the village, doctor showed man how to using the comdom so no more babies. He still has the babies, and is angry so goes back to doctor. Doctor asks him to show how he used condom, man said look just how you show me, and put it on his thumb".

The best gap and local guides in the world ever :)