day 214, Dondet

Another gorgeous day at the beginning of the new year. Again had breakfast at our little café at the place, again with the spring rolls, walked into town to grab a bottle of water and ended up at a pool bar where we had the place pretty much to ourselves, I got spanked by andy who has emerged as a pool shark after being total wank for the first couple of games, had some cookies and a chat then met up with everyone to go on a sunset cruise. Unfortunately irish dave wasn’t feeling too great so he gave it a miss, so it were me, andy, m, Graeme, miya, deem, joel and becca. We got some food for the boat, met the bloke who was bringing inflated inner tubes and took us to our boat, which were 2 boats tied together with a platform on with a speaker. Plugged my ipod in and sat down cruising through the river which was a “fuck me” moment, this place if ridiculously pretty. It drove for about 25 minutes then we arrived at a little island where 5 people were on it with another boat, joined with them, 3 of whom we had met before, and went for a swim. Me and Miya sat in tubes natting and before we knew it we had been dragged away, despite admittedly futile attempts at swimming back the boat had to come pick us up. We then got driven up stream and lazed about in a tube drifting back to the beach, before back on board the boat and to another island where you could see the sunset which was out of this world, a couple of joints were going round and we just sat there looking at the sunset talking. As it was getting dark back on the boat and drove home in the darkness looking at the stars, was an amazing afternoon/evening. After a shower we all met back up for dinner, had a curry which was awesome, sat in the bar again for people to have pancakes before turning in.

day 213, Dondet

First thing to do in the new year was to have a powerful cold shower to wash the river off me and refresh, which was fabulous before having breakfast at the bungalow restaurant, which consisted of 8 chairs around one table and a tiny kitchen hidden away and the cutest little puppies running around and the odd skanky cat. Had a bloody massive curry and a shared plate of spring rolls which are soon becoming a habit, then retired to a hammock and laid there for almost the whole day reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and falling asleep. Midafternoon walked into town, picked up a samosa and used the shitty internet café before crossing the island (all 2 minutes of it) to watch the sunset, meeting part of the group who spent the day at the happy bar. We met for dinner at the aussie bar which served amazing western food, attempted phoning home with mixed success then onto a bar for a chill out, some pancakes and shithead.

Day 212, the bus then Dondet (new years eve!)

At 8 we are woken by the miserly bus lady, shooed of the bus at a petrol station, bags are dumped on the ground and despite protests it leaves us, no idea where we are, no sign of the connecting bus to take us to the boat, basically fucked. Through tiredness and being preyed upon by tuk tuk drivers, they take us to a travel agency which is the same as the company we arranged our transport through, it’s not and they don’t want anything to do with us so they then take us to the bus station where after a bit of phone work they say everything will be sorted. A tuk tuk arrives to take us to another bus station after a couple of breakdowns, where they pile us onto a songthaew. I think it was a new level for me in terms of transport, it had the standard 2 benches either side with an additional plank going through the middle, in total there were 36 adults, 6 children, a goose, two chicken plus all our luggage, bags of rice, potatoes, watermelons, limes, and numerous other bits and pieces. It was fucking ridiculous, you couldn’t move as we were so crammed in, the roof was physically shaking due to the load plus the 3 people sat on the roof, and there were people hanging out the back of it. We sat there as vans and other vehicles came and dropped off more people or goods, sweltering in the heat. Finally after an hour we started moving, I had just put my ipod in when a huge bang erupts, the fucking tyre blew out… everyone out, they set to work, 10mins later back on the road. 25 minutes later, BANG, the tyre blows out, this time 40mins wait, they have to drive somewhere for another tyre…

finally back on the bus, this time with even less leg room somehow, trying not to get cramp listening to music, another 3 hours later, after a couple of food stops and them unloading every other person or edible goods we are finally at the ferry port. Of course our tickets which say we have a ferry ticket aren’t valid, though the place is fucking amazing. We arrive at Dondet, the smaller of the main islands of the 4000 islands and it is ridiculously beautiful, idyllic and paradise are two words which come to mind, no cars, little sand paths, palm trees, livestock running free, wooden bungalows overlooking the river, 20 hours later just so glad to arrive. We wonder on down and find a good place to stay near the main bit of town but quiet, have a much needed shower and some water, then head into town for the first bit of  real food all day. While toasting the beginning of the new year Irish dave, Joel, Becca, and Grant come through so join us, we catch up on the last few days and order food. Myself, M, Graeme, Miya and andy share 5 dishes plus some spring rolls and the food is demolished. We move onwards looking for a good place, we find a tepee place which has music and fire pits, really cool, get beers in plus tequila and had a fantastic evening. Had a bit of a dance though were fucking melting, so go off to a side field  with Miya, Andy and Dave and just look up at the stars which were incredible. Approaching midnight drag ourselves back to the party, have a shuffle and see in the new year before heading back to the field. Walk home in the moonlight stopping on the way for a quick dip in the river on the beach section then sitting round a fire to dry up, the stresses of the day completely forgotten, exhausted and in a merry state, with friends in an incredible place, can’t think of a better way to see in the new year.

the view from our bungalow

Day 211, Vientiane then the bus

Checked out on the dot at 11:30, M is feeling and looking tonnes better while Graeme had an eventful evening, he went out with Lizzy the dutch girl and while chatting at the statue a group of men in uniforms accosted him, one of them had a machine gun and wanted money and passports! Graeme was quite the dude and stood up for them both, demanding to see ID and go to the police station which they wouldn’t do, so he snatched Lizzy’s passport from them and walked off, thank fuck that was the end of it. We stumbled upon a little café which served excellent food and really great Lemon Juices which are becoming a staple of dinners now as it is marvellous. Had steak and spaghetti which was as good as it sounds, then we went off in search of the waterpark. We got a tuk tuk there and it was ramshackle, they let us check it out first before paying, it was really small and old, though half the flumes were open and it was a nice day so paid our monies and went in! started off on the flumes which were great fun, one of them was in the dark and good fun, then we went into the pool where they had a inflatable goal with a ball so played some waterpolo which was awesome, finished Sheepshagger, chilled, played some keepy-upees and walked back to the restaurant for dinner. I got a stew which was even better then the meal before, then back to the hotel with snacks ready to be picked up for transportation to our bus. The bus was really shit, it was a sleeping bus though we had a single bed between two of us, I was sharing with andy and was a little bit snug. Played some shithead, listened to some music and had a pillow-talk conversation with andy which was hilarious before trying to get some sleep in between the bumps, the sweating and the corners…

day 210, Vientiane

Needed to check out at 11:30 however M (stands for Miléne,  the Québécois who's throwing up the peace sign in the kayak a couple of entries down) was not feeling well, not well at all, so we booked another night in one room with the intention of her just crashing out then taking the night bus to the 4000islands tonight. I went off and picked my passport up with my visa extension, then we all headed off for breakfast before going to the swimming pool which was really cool, on the way literally walking into the national stadium to have a look around. Chilled out in the swimming pool dipping and reading and eating. When it got a bit cold we headed off for a burger then to a café for a bit of cake and walk around. We walked to the river where me and andy joined in with some kids playing football then had a little chat with them before walking back to the hotel. When there M was gone, we hadn’t booked the bus so we got another room and sat down watching Tangled. About an hour and half later M bursts in with Graeme, turned out Graeme came back and M was in a fucking state, rushed her to hospital and after a bit of drama and bloodwork she has Scrubs Typhus, from a tick/flea, it’s a disease that only 70 people are diagnosed with a year, though she is drugged up and is immeasurably better, so we headed off for dinner at a street place which was great, had fish, ribs, chicken, rice and soup which was fab, then to a pub for a game of pool which Andy handed my arse to me and went back to the hotel at kick out time, watched Kick-ass and drifted off.

day 209, Vientiane

Slept like the dead which was incredible, was really nice to have a proper mattress and duvet plus being inside as opposed to in a wooden hut on cushions with blankets. We had a leisurely breakfast, said goodbye to Kiwi Anna who was moving on then split up. Some went to the national museum, me I went to the Lao Immigration office in order to extend my Lao visa, filled in the form, dropped my passport off and have to pick it up tomorrow. On the way back stopped off at the dingiest mall ever to pick up a pair of headphones as mine broke and buses without music is a living hell, then ended up at a park in the shade to continue reading Sheepshagger which I’m really enjoying though can be quite hard going. Meandered back to the hotel to meet up with Graeme and M, they fancied Lao food though we all had our hearts set on Indian so split up, met up again with the additional the others as well as the Dutch girls Lise and Lizzy, took a tuk tuk 10minutes away and went to the circus! It was a competition between Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, and it was fucking brilliant. Was a bit of a shame that we came on the awards night, so we had to sit through an hour of people coming out and being given flowers, sore arses approached though when the show started was really impressive, plus no animal acts so all was good. The first act had something I hadn’t seen before, there were some kids on motorbikes that parked up, laid on the seats and each had a kid laying on their feet while they kicked them around and somersaulting which was fab. Walked back to the BeerLao music zone where they have a big stage with a DJ to see in the NY, had a few drinks, a boogie, we were all on the big screen which was cool, it had the shittest DJ in the world who chose to stop the song and just speak shit, then that closed down around 11:30 so went to a club round the corner which had a really good live band and this lass belting out the tunes, had a bit more of a boogie then turned the corner and went home, on the way hunting for chicken though had to settle for drunken magnums from Toby the night porter which were shared then crashed out.

the kids with their backs on the bikes threw around the other kids to each other , was awesome

day 208. songthaew and kayak to Vientiane!

After a baguette and packing my stuff up 10 of us congregated for the bus and kayak to Vientiane. It were Andy, Graeme, Deem, Miya, Julia, Hoixin, german dave, kiwi anna, M plus me. We started off with a 2 ½ hour bus ride to the river, stopping along the way every now and then. We unloaded the bus (which had the kayaks on top),

had a bit of instruction, kitted up and set off. It was fabulous weather, the river was really calm and wide with a gentle current and we just meandered on down.

About 40mins in we stopped off and the 3 guides prepared a BBQ which was bloody fantastic, before we each took it in turn to ride a rapid without the kayak.

Chilling out for lunch. me and andy are on our way to the rapid

Back in the kayak to do the rapid, only one person fell in which of course was me, before carrying on paddling. Somehow I fell in twice more, once by me just being shit and the other time by Miya and Deem paddling straight into me.

instead of helping me un-capsize andy just laughs and takes my picture...

We stopped off at this cliff about 8m tall which you could jump off and was really good fun, then another couple of hours we reached the bus again. We took it really easy, paddling for literally 30seconds then coasting and chatting while enjoying the landscape which was stunning. It was really interesting to see the difference between the dry season (which it is now) to the wet season and where the river reaches, it’s crazy.

Back on board the bus and a fucking bumpy, dusty 3 hour drive to Vientiane. After a bit of faffing we checked into a hotel room which is cool, then went off for a divine Indian. Absolutely shattered we went back to the hotel room armed with Milk, Magnums and water, watched the football before crashing out.

day 207, Vang Vieng

Boxing day was a complete write off, some people went to the blue lagoon, some went back to the river, some did fuck all. I belonged to the latter category. Me, andy and Miya got some breakfast overlooking the river which was really nice, back to the hostel to sit down in the quiet and shaded in a hammock doing nothing. Went out for a walk with andy round the very small tourist orientated town, on the way back got a baguette and watched the sunset between the mountains which was brilliant, didn’t have a camera though take my word for it it was bloody lovely. Just as the sun said goodbye this line of bats were going from right to left, it looked like smoke going horizontally and it was incredible, there were millions of them and were fantastic, got a cup of tea in. In the evening everyone went to the irish bar which was great, me and andy chose to be anti social and watch the football which was fab, wandered around town seeing if anyone was out though was not, so went to bed.

I pinched Andy's photos. this was the view from our café sipping tea. the bats went from right to left as soon as the sun set.

day 206, Vang Vieng

IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!! Woke up with a banging headache, got a baguette and hung around the hostel with everyone. The idea of first just tubing down the river then going back  minus the tubes to drink soon went out the window and elected just for the drinking part. Everyone looked a fucking state, either in vests or bad outfits, children’s orange dresses, capes, hot pants and lots of writing and spray paint. We got a tuk tuk down and to the first bar, I was feeling rough so necked 3 litres of water before getting back on the beer and sharing other people’s buckets. It was a lot of fun, played flip cup and danced a lot, we went to 3 bars and everyone had a blast. No-one got messy, just lots of dancing and raucous laughter. I didn’t even get in the river, was in no fit state, though some people did the zip wires and jumped off but that shit looked crazy. We went back when it got dark, showered and went out for dinner, back to the hostel to chill out while some people had crashed out. It felt a hell of a lot later then it actually was, I walked to a bar around 10 but had no energy and couldn’t fufill my milk craving so called it a night. Incidentally people who crashed out around 7pm woke around midnight to head back out, with the hardcore trudging in around 8 the next morning, folk be crazy! Merry Christmas everyone, hope you had a grand day! X

day 205, Vang Vieng

After breakfast six of us, me Graeme, deem, miya, Cynthia and Scottish andy got on bikes and went back to the blue lagoon.on the way stopped off at mountain hut viewpoint which was out of this world, then the blue lagoon where I dived in and jumped forom the top one which was a tad scary, then into thte cave, really deepo and pitch black but we had torces so all good. Back to the hostel tomeet up with everyone, went out for dinner and had a pub quiz, our team the molesters won so had some buckets, back to the hostel for drinking and got a Mohawk done, went out and got very drunk then backto the hostel and fell down a hill but it’s fucking christams!!!

(yes i was drunk when i wrote this...)

day 204, Vang Vieng

Went out for breakfast with Andy, Graeme and Camilla, before being joined by Christophe and Alex, 2 sound Austrian blokes, the Dutchies Lise and Lizzy came later and we set off on mopeds in search of the blue lagoon. We crossed a really little bridge which was a bit sketchy, then the road was fucking dreadful, full of stones and massive bumps. We found a sign for the blue lagoon, went in and was particularly under whelmed, was more of a stream then a lagoon. Graeme climbed to a bamboo diving board about 3 metres up, jumped in and the water was about a metre deep. Bored we walked up to a cave, where kids under 10 years old had torches and acted us our guide. At times it was a little cramped but was good fun, we needed the kids and their torches as it was bloody dark. On the way down we met some blokes who were searching for a hut on top of a cliff that looked pretty damn cool, though they went to the blue lagoon yday and said that this was a fake one! On the way out written on the sign in marker pen was “this is a scam!”, which we didn’t see on the way in… Drove further on and arrived in the Blue Lagoon and it’s bloody marvellous, a big tree overhanging a turquoise river which is really deep, with jumping platforms and rope swings. In the last 10 minutes of the ride mine and andy’s bike started clankering and we started weaving, when we arrived at the lagoon and got up we realised we had a flat tyre. Once we were down at the lagoon we stopped off at a community project for dinner and they fixed our bike, putting a new inner tube in. Had a really good traditional lao meal, then drove home. As bikes are more expensive then in Thailand everyone shared bikes, andy drove there and I drove back. It was the first time driving a semi automatic bike and was good fun, was a little jerky at first though soon got smooth and really enjoyed kicking through the gears. Back at the hostel and showered myself, andy, Deem and Miya (two Canadians) went out for dinner and smashed a curry, then met up with people at a bar with a pool table, hung around there drinking, chatting and playing pool. We kept on running into people we met here and there then moved off to another bar where sat next to a fire, got smashed and put the world to rites which was brilliant, andy had a few too many so went home and sat round the hostel’s fire chatting to some bloke from the Isle of Wight.

Fake Blue Lagoon

Real Blue Lagoon

sidenote

Hello from Hanoi! I finally made it yesterday morning having had a nightmare journey, for the first time if Scotty said he could beam me up back home I would have taken it, it was that shit. Though I am here now and it's really cool, completely different to Laos, I'm looking forward to exploring. I'm in a hotel/hostel which was recommended to me and it's this shit, i went to bed at half 7 yday as i was fucking knackered.  Facebook is blocked here, if you want to contact me shoot me an email and anyone reads on my profile that someone is trying to get hold of me could you let 'em know. I'll reply to emails tonight hopefully. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY  to the lovely Frankie and Andy! dom x

sidenote

hello, just a quickie to say i am well, just got back off a 3 day bike loop round pakse, going to hanoi tomorrow on a night bus so will update properly when i arrive. have not checked emails or facebook but look forward to it. love x

day 203, Vang Vieng

Had a bit of shit sleep as it was freezing, got up for the bus, marched into town to buy some baguettes for the bus and piled into a tiny minibus. Had a shit seat which didn’t have a full back to it, driving half an hour and the driver gets a phone call the myself, Graeme, Lizzy and Liza haven’t paid, of course we had and after 20mins of “yes we have paid” on the phone they find our receipt somewhere and we drive off. Outside the views are stunning but the roads leave a little to be desired. Listened to some music ignoring the group of aussie lads being laddie. 8 and ½ hours later arrived, minus a broken window which stopped off at a mechanics to fix and arrive. Wander round with Graeme till we find our hostel, meet Scottish andy and head out for dinner. Vang Vieng is a paradox, scenery is stunning though it is packed with westerners and bars catering for them with almost every bar showing either friends or family guy. Andy takes us to a bit of a dive which doesn’t have any Tvs (we went there for that reason) and it serves amazing food, it were me, Graeme, Lizzy and Lisee  the dutchies, Myles a scot out working in hong kong as a kayak instructor, Camilla a brazillian and was really good. From there we ran into another couple of dutch girls and headed to a outside pub which was cool with a fire,  had a chat then headed back to the hostel to bed.

view from the bus, picture doesn't do it justice, laos is stunning

day 202, luang prabang

Lazed the morning away before going with Graeme down to the walking street where we had a baguette, I spotted Perry and Dave the aussies from the night train, had a chat with them and set about getting a few people together to get a tuk tuk down to the waterfall. We roped in 2 Londoners and 4 Belgians and set off. Spent the day lazing away at the waterfall in the pool with the ropeswing and the little waterfall you can jump off, met some Kiwi’s and really enjoyed watching people fail on the ropeswing. Walked back and hung out with the other tuk tuk drivers and played snooker waiting for everyone, once there jumped in the tuk tuk for a cold ride back as the sun had gone in, sorted out tomorrow’s transport off to Vang Vieng, then off to dinner with 8 of us to a café before chilling out in the hostel. 

day 201, Luang Prabang

Quite possibly one of my favourite and most memorable days! Drunkenly arranged to meet up with Amy and Graeme to go to the waterfall again this time with beer and baguettes though didn’t come off so instead me and Graeme went off, stopped off at a restaurant for brunch where I tried Olamph (sp?) a traditional laos dish of water buffalo, vegetables, mushroom and wood(!) and it wasn’t particularly great, before walking to the river to cross a awesome bamboo bridge to a village where they make crafts and silk weaving etc. It was a beautiful day and we spent a couple of hours meandering through the different things on show, watching people silk weaving which was insane, so intricate and time consuming, paper making, furniture making and was full of stuff which was amazing, if I had a house could have quite happily decorated my house head to toe to make Kevin Mcloud jizz. Walked back and caught a tuk tuk to the football/athletics stadium where it was finals day of the Laos national Games, and in the football it was the final between Luang Prabang and Vientiane. It was free to get in and we had to put our bags through the xray machine, we got a seat in the  main stand and it was about an eighth full, the game kicked off about 5 mins after we sat down and it was a really good standard. Halfway through we found out it was the 3rd place playoff, it finished 2-1 to the team who didn’t play the better football but were more clinical and had the cutting edge. During the 90 mins people were slowly creeping in, when the next two teams took to the field to warm up things were getting crazy, the place was full and people were screaming and shouting, drums and cymbals were crashing and was a party atmosphere. Kicked off to insane noise and it was a really shit game, Luang Prabang were bloody filthy and Vientiane was just solid, though the crowd made it really interesting, it was funny to watch bad players play in front of 25,000 people (guestimate)  and there were a lot of horrible challenges flying around, people were going down left right and centre, and every time 4 men would run on with a stretcher, whack ‘em off and carry them to the side of the pitch before carrying on, 9 people must have been stretcher-ed off.  At half time it was 0-0 though Luang Prabang had a goal disallowed for offside though no one realised as too busy celebrating, the LP players were doing a Klinsman  in the corner and the crowd were jumping and shouting and throwing water over each other. The second half was pretty drab football wise though hugely entertaining, plenty of horror challenges, shouting and the crowd was going into a frenzy, praying for blood. Coming up to full time and a Luang Prabang player gets scythed down in the penalty box and the ref waves it away. Four players surround the ref and one of them pushes the ref, the ref starts running away then almost the whole team start running after the ref. While running he shows one of them a red card which only incites  them  more, the other team are running after them trying to protect the ref, LP players are aiming kicks at the ref who is still running, he runs almost to the tunnel where a few army guys take him under the wing, while the LP players are still trying to get to him, all the while the crowd is going fucking mental and throwing things on the pitch, down in the penalty box is a bloke being carried off on a stretcher, more army people run in and start confronting the LP players and one army blokes comes out with a fuck off huge german Sheppard, the ref and his lino’s are down the tunnel, Vientiane are sat on the pitch unsure what is going on, the LP players start geeing up the crowd more if possible like it’s fucking Gladiator (the Russell Crowe movie as opposed to the one with the wolf), I’m standing there with Graeme, mouth wide open unbelieving what I have just witnessed, the crowd is a mixture of the same and going bloody ape and no-one is sure what is going on, lots of pushing and shoving down on the pitch, crowd still screaming and nothing happens for 20minutes. After another 10 we decide to call it, felt uncomfortable and scared to be honest, people were going mental, no-one was sure what’s happening, people with guns start marching around and the crowd smell blood. On the way out I buy a t-shirt with the Games logo on which is sick (a rooster holding up a torch) and walk back to the town. On the way back a massive convey comes through the road with police escort, just as we get back to the hostel we walk past a family who are watching the football which has just kicked off for extra time, they haven’t even called it off! Luang Prabang are down to 9 men. Back at the hostel we chat to the owner who is watching it, while the riot happened the live tv footage cut out for 2 minutes. We wander off to get dinner, the Indian place which takes our fancy is closed so we have a walk around till we find something which grabs us. On the way we stumbled past the police station where there are cops and kids all drinking beer with the floor littered with empty long neck bottles watching the game, lots of shouting and gesturing with one cop out of his head drunk. We stand in there and finish watching the game, it’s gone to penalties, each score three, then each miss two with identical poor penalties before Vientiane tuck one away leaving the LP keeper needing to put it away to level. He strides up confidently, keeper doesn’t move, strikes it well and smashes it against the post, Vientiane win and the cops are desolate. Oh, and during the game we saw the most hideous head collision possible, the game was played at 100mph at a very low skill level which produced numerous horrific tackles and incidents. We marched off from the police station and saw two monks in the temple garden shadow boxing which was just hilarious. We found ourselves a little café away from the city centre and had a smashing pizza, walked back to the centre and past the cop shop where the cop who is blind drunk stumbles out shouting something incoherent, puts on his helmet and jumps on his bike. We walk through the market, get a doughnut and make our way back to the hostel. I am exhausted. Sensory overload. What a day.

Add caption

day 200, luang prabang

Felt a lot better today so ended up going to Kuang Si  waterfall with Graeme, Alex, Holiday Simon, Zach, Lizzy and Lise. We got a baguette for breakfast, negotiated a price with the tuk tuk driver and off we were, an hours drive through the countryside passing small villages and we were there! Paid our entrance fee then a little walk to the waterfall which was really impressive. We did a bit of a walk up round the back of the waterfall, found a really cool sort of vortex whirlpool hole at the top, had a great view and it was really pretty. Following that we walked down and followed the water, ended up at a naturally formed pool with a rope swing plus a little waterfall which you could jump off, it was bloody idyllic. We messed around there for a couple of hours, was really good fun, people were doing flips and shit and sat in the sun. Then we walked back to the tuk tuk and drove home, met up with quite a big group from the hostel, chatted for a bit and tried Snake whiskey (red ’whiskey’ in a jar with snakes) and it was as nice as it sounds, ie fucking hideous. For dinner everyone went to the food alley for a buffet and beer, chatted away to some aussies and a couple from brighton before moving on to Utopia, quite possibly the coolest bar I have ever been to, sand volleyball court, giant jenga, big seating areas with one platform overlooking the river, chilled music and really cool videos on a projector, like the shit off rude tube but all the best uplifting and coolest videos. Was really good fun just chatting away, a few beers and sambuca and the 12 o’clock curfew was upon us. Not fancying the bowling alley went back to the hostel to sit round the fire drinking, got a baguette on the way back and just hung out with Amy, Chris and Katja singing burt Bacharach songs before turning in happily merry.

day 199, Luang Prabang

Attempted and failed to have a sleep in, went off walking with andy after a spot of brunch, had a delicious curry though nowhere near the standard of the curry shack, was walking down the street and suddenly didn’t feel very well. Ended up back at the fancy café sipping drinks there, wasted away the afternoon then in the evening went to a bar for some food and watch the football, really enjoyed it, a good vibe in the place and walked back to the hostel to alternate sitting round a fire and watching the city-arsenal game.

day 198, Luang Prabang

Had a pretty dreadful sleep as the bed was lumpy and woken up by kids running and shouting around at 8 in the morning, got up and took in my surroundings, bumped into Scottish Andy from Chaing Mai who’s been here for a few days, had a wander around the town which is really nice, has some very cool buildings and heavily French influenced, the whole town is a world heritage site, stopped for some noodle soup and a shake then nipped into a café for a iced chocolate and a read. Back at the hostel ran into Irish Dave, Amy and Chris and went to the food alley for dinner after having my first Beerlao (the only beer in Laos which has 99% of the market and thank goodness it’s pretty decent.) The food alley was really cool, a buffet for 10,000 kip for a piled high plate plus another beerlao, walked to Utopia (a bar) and had a few drinks chatting with people, quite a few from Chaing Mai and Pai, before kicked out at half 11 for curfew (funnily enough the only place to go after 11:30 is the discothèque which then closes at 1 so your only option is to go the bowling alley where the emphasis is on drinking. Knackered, me Andy, Amy and Chris walked back to the hostel and chilled out round the fire nattering away till the early hours of the morning.  

day 197, the bus to Luang Prabang

Having not slept enough, woken by the owner who is a bit of a dick, got some breakfast in which went down a treat, got fed up with the owner of the guesthouse so walked to the ferry terminal myself and down to Thai Immigration. Despite everything I have read and talked to people I had to pay 500baht for overstaying one day, whereas I believed you had one day’s grace; it was particularly encouraging to see when I gave the bloke a thousand baht he took the 500baht change from his wallet which was in his pocket. Caught the one minute ferry to Laos, filled in my forms and handed over my 35 bucks, got a visa and caught a tuk-tuk to the bus station to catch the 9 o’clock bus. There isn’t a bus at nine, only two or five. Sat down for 5 hours waiting, watched kick-volleyball which is a strange sport, plus some boxing, talked to a Swiss bloke called Chris who has been travelling asia for 3 years, he spent 6 months on a island living with a family just chilling out, had to visit the mainland by a 2 hour bus ride every four days of commodities plus didn’t have electricity but he fucking loved it, and is now in the process of becoming a bamboo tattoo artist. The bus finally left which was 13 hours of fun, thankfully it wasn’t full so could commandeer two seats and be uncomfortable over two seats, stopped off for some dinner and chatted to two dutch blokes who are cycling round SE Asia on the bikes which you lie down on, seemed pretty cool. Arrived at Luang Prabang at 02:30, only tuk tuk around takes me to my hostel, wake up the security guard who puts me in the movie room and hands me his sleeping bag to crash out, bloody knackered, dehydrated and stinking.

day 196, Pai

Last day in Pai due to visa limitations equals sadness, don’t want to leave. Had an amazing sleep and woke up to amazing sunshine, went into town with the mancs, Holiday Simon and alex from preston, the quebecian girl, tilly and Graeme for a really good breakfast, had a wheatgrass shot which was excellent, mooched round town and headed back to the hostel to chill out. I finished my book and put on some tunes just gazing out over yonder in a hammock having a bloody ball. People slowly rolled in from their different day’s activities and chatting. Packed my bag and come evening said my goodbyes and walked to town with Lucy, an aussie girl to catch my bus. Got a cheeky pre dinner brownie with Lucy before heading to the curry shack for one final curry. As it was busy was sat with Kevin, a canandian dude who was really cool, looked like scrubious pip, chatted to him and ordered two curries before he disappeared. Just as my dinner came out almost everyone from the hostel turned up for dinner, basically taking over the very small curry shack. Everyone was in a really good mood enjoying being around, though I had to catch my bus. Once again said my goodbyes and headed to the bus, got in a minibus with Canadians, yanks and Israelis who were all friendly, before we set off on our mental ride with the driver driving like a cock and people throwing up. Around 3 in the morning arrived at the border and to a shitty guesthouse for 4 brief hours sleep.

day 195, Pai

Bade farewell to Galen in the morning which was a shame as he was a fucking dude, hammock’d for a while and read my book, walked into town with Tilly, an aussie, got some food which was really good and a particularly tasty shake before going in different directions, I went to the bus station and booked a ticket to head to Chiang Khong, the border for laos for tomorrow night, walked back to the hostel and chilled out. I took two mancs, nick and tom and a Quebecian girl, M,  to the curry shack, had an amazing masaman and back to the hostel. The reggae bar were having a buffet so we went there with everyone for a couple of drinks, some buffet and chilled out in front of a fire, chatting away to some south African blokes,  chris an aussie and frank a dutch bloke, before getting knackered and having an early night.

day 194, Pai

Woke up feeling pretty good, slept really well this time fully clothed and hatted to fend off the cold, lazed in the hammock with Galen trying to work out what to do, a trek through the forest following the river to a waterfall or a bike ride to the biggest cave in Thailand. No decision made we headed back to the curry shack for another curry, this time masaman, before driving to the jungle bar, ditching the bikes and walking 3 hours to the waterfall. It was a really good walk, having to cross the river loads which was fun though my Velcro on my sandals kept coming off pissing me off a treat, plus I lost my sunglasses cleaning case (grr) but reaching the waterfall it was bloody impressive, we dipped in under it, climbed up some rocks to a pool formed about 5 metres above ground level, it were bloody cold, before walking back ending in near darkness which was surreal. Really enjoyed the day though my feet were fucked due to the Velcro malfunction, bloody hungry we drove to the curry shack again for dinner, had khao soy which was marvellous, plus another panang (after the curry yday I got some street food which was nearly the same price though no where near as good so thought fuck it, and it was a cracking decision as I was nicely full when I finished, plus yesterday I got some chilli sauce in my eye and in drunken wisdom Graeme wanted to pour beer in it to clean it out) and walked through the markets while the other 3 (Galen, malana and Graeme) shopped for local style clothing till it got too cold, got some beers and drove back to the hostel, showered and chilled out chatting and sitting around a bonfire until ran out of wood.

day 193, Pai

Tried to sleep in though I was bloody freezing during the night and as the dorm building is on stilts in a rice paddy field where they are preparing the fields by flooding it there was a constant 1 foot waterfall right outside my window which just made me need a piss half way through hence I didn’t sleep in that much. Waking up I wasn’t in the mood to do anything with the day so didn’t. I mooched around in a hammock reading Garry Nelson’s Left Foot forward, talked to a couple of people then wandered into town with Lisa-Marie, Galen, Graham and Malena for some needed dinner, walked a bit round town having a look then went back to the hostel to chill out. In the evening me, graham, Malena, amy, Chris and galen went out to the curry shack for dinner, it’s just one friendly dude making the curries, I had a Panang and it was stunning. We got some booze and went back to the hostel for a few drinks before heading out to the sun bar for a couple more, had a great night, ended up at the don’t cry bar sitting round, smoked a bit of weed for the first time in ages, was enjoying it then remembered why I don’t like weed, it sticks in the back of my throat and tastes fucking horrible, wandered back to the hostel after declining kit’s offer to be the third person on his motorbike (he’d consumed a bottle of whiskey) and sat in the hammock with a bottle of water looking out into darkness just chilling watching people stagger in.

sidenote

hello! sorry not been able to post, been crazy busy and internet has been scarce. have still been writing every day and will post when get round to it. hope everyone is well, thanks all for festive messages, Have a great new year! dom x