Luang Prabang

Got up this morning at 6am to see the monks receiving their alms. I was embaressed because most tourists were standing beside them taking photos. It was terrible. Apart from that it was nice to see from a distance.

Went to the big waterfall today, an hour away from the town. Took a minibus there with a group of friendly Germans. It was worth it. Took a short swim there. My ticker didnt stop thank God (twas rather chilly).

Last night I spent in L'estranger bookshop watching "Finding Neverland". Met Tamsyn there and picked up another Israeli along the way. They're everywhere.
I also had the most relaxing massage ever in "Steam Massage". The girl has only been practicing 2 years. It only cost $3.

Made a few clothes purchases in Walkman Village. Heading North to Nong Thiaw tomorrow and Im preparing for the cold nights.

Vientiane - Vang Vieng

Spent a day in Vientiane and basically saw enough in that amount of time. We saw the Golden stupa and their Arc de Triumph, visited the market and took the local bus to the Buddah Park. The bus ride was interesting. Learnt to count in Laos and Igot to taste lots of unusual fruit.

We stayed in a dorm 2 dollars per night which did the trick no frills :-)
Tamsyn and I ended up sharing it with some guy who'd come from Vang Vieng. He'd spent 4 weeks there after he was given some free pot for Christmas.

In Vang Vieng now. This place is lovely without the tourists Im sure, lots of large karst formations surround this place. Took my tube and headed off to the river with a few fellow travllers today. Weren't in the water 2 minutes and there was a stop in an alcoholic fuelling station. I had a good swing out of one of the rope swingy things which was deadly!!

There was a cave close by too, so we climbed up to that and walked to the end of it which was all lit up. Two local guys showed us the way. It was really wide and long. Took us about 20 mins to get to the end of it.

Back on the tube we got and travelled 50 meters to the next fuelling station.
When we were back on the straight it was getting cold so we started to hand paddle a bit faster. This young girl latched onto my tube (looking for money Im sure). After 15 minutes of straining to move down river I had to kick her to the curb.

Taking the bus to Luang Prabang tomorrow. Cant wait. This place is lacking culture and I noticed driving in, that the factory close by is emitting lots of shitty smoke that lies over this place.

Dont smoke grass or drink so Im getting out :0)

Souther Laos

Spent a few nights in Tadlo buy the waterfall in a small bungalow. We went trekking with a local man who thought we were fit and healthy enough to climb to the tob of the 80m waterfall. It was really interesting on the way there. We passed through a few tribal villages and learnt about their traditions and daily routine. Wehn we reached the top we had a well deserved sandwich. Coming down was hilarious. Roisin had no grip and pretty much slid the whole way down.

Met lots of backpackers in Tadlo who looked like part of the furniture. The kids there loved to get their photos taken. Thought me how to write my name in Laos. Met a broken hearted Laos guy too.

From Tadlo we caught the bus to Si Phan Don (4000 islands). We planned on staying on Don Det but but it seemed to be full of tourist bungalows and lacked character. Im glad we took the boat to Don Khon. Found clean and basic bunalows there for 2 dollars a night right on the river with hammocks. Another girl Tamsyn from South Africa came along too.

From here we went to see the beautiful Somphamit Falls and hung out at the beach for a couple of days. We rented bikes each day and cycled our way around. Yesterday we saw the largest cascading waterfall in Asia. We didnt try to find the Irrawaddy dolphins at all. Met some very interesting people around this place including an Canadian woman Lynn, a German animator Ingo. Its so relaxed there. There were a few pet monkeys hanging about the restaurants which were cute. Lots of chikens, dogs, cats, goats, pigs you name it along the roadways.. none of them in any hurry.

This morning we left Don Khon and are back in Pakse. Im still with Tamsyn but Roisin decided to go south of Thailand for some more sun worshipping. said a quick goodbye and both of us were whisked away in our tuk tuks. Shes headed for Krabi her mecca.

Im taking the 8:30 bus to Vientiane with Tamzen tonight. Its VIP and Im already looking forward to a western film.

Phi Phi Island

This is my second day on Phi Phi Island. Yesterday we took a long-tail boat to Long Beach just west of our beach to get away from the hussle and bustle. The water was much clearer there. We went for a swim to cool down and then I hid under a tree out of the sun. Took some nice pics. Must upload these. Later we took a kayak and headed out to sea to watch the sun set. It was just dark when we arrived back to shore. Lots of fun on the way. Roisin tends to kayak at Olympic standards.

There are loads of bars and restaurants in Ton Sai where we are based (very commercialised). Lively night life.

Today Roisin and I went snorkeling to Maya bay. Its was such a laugh. We took a long tail boat. Before we reached the beach he (sailor dude) stopped up, gave us life jackets and snorkeling gear and off we got. All the different fish were amazing. They are such colorful creatures! The lifejacket was strapped between my legs! Slightly uncomfortable you can imagine. The sea got really choppy on the way back. Pitied the people we passed out in the canoes. It cost 900 Baht.

The picture taken of the hotel is in Ton Sai, Phi Phi. A lot of work is going on at the moment restoring old buildings. It looks like they have abandoned this hotel.