Chop Choi (Thank You in Laos)

Bad news! The charger we bought in Bangkok died after just one recharge. So we have no camera and the photos of our trek are on the now dead camera. We'll be able to get them off but we'll have to find a Kodak shop or another charger.

We're really annoyed because we have some great pictures to show you and also we can't take pictures here.

We are in Laos at the moment. Great spot. We got a bus to Chiang Khong which is on the Mekong river. Laos is across the river. The next day we headed across and got our visas and customs checks which took a while. The passport is starting to look cool now with all the stamps and visas. We hopped on the slow boat. It took 7 hours but wasn't bad. We have lots of friends now that are pretty much doing the same thing. Food in Laos is gorgeous and cheap. They have only one beer here, Laos Beer!

We stayed the first night on the river in a very nice guest house. Electricity stops at 10:30 sharp so we were literally in bed at that time. They have a curfew on the border towns so they actually will lock you out of the guest house after that. We woke in the morning and two dutch guys, Jerry and Abion, asked us did we want to join them and a few others on another boat. We had tickets for the same boat again but Abion paid a captain to take us on a VIP/private boat to the next place. $200 got 15 of us down the river. It was class. We stocked up on beer and played cards and pretty much partied all 7 hours we were on it. Slow boats officially rock!

In LaoungPrabang now. Nice place. We went to a restaurant last night and then a pub. After we went bowling till 2 in the morning (was the only place open selling beer at that hour). Was great craic. Feeling the effects today though!. Off to the capital now in a half hour. 5 hour bus journey with the same crowd again. Good bunch though. Oh and the dutch guys are teaching me dutch again. Hope everyone is cool, sorry about the pictures but I am on it!

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Vietnam Here We Come!!

We fly to Hanoi this evening. Laos has been amazing. We met so so many cool people and have seen so many cool things!

So what happened on our way to the capital? Well we got our bus to Vangviang, 5 hours of hell with no air con on a minibus. It was tough but the next day was going to be quality so we didn't mind. Vangviang is basically a two street town. What makes it so good is that they decided to build bars along the Mekong River and give backpackers industrial size tubes and let them party all day!

Let me give ya a bit of background info first. The Mekong River starts way up in Tibet and enters the sea at Vietnam way in the south, passing through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia before gettting there. It's the same river we partied down on our slow boat. It's big and fast! So you get your tube, start at the top and float down. They throw ropes to you and pull you in to bars. The current is so stromg that if you miss a pub you have to wait at the next one. You couldn't swim upstream, even sideways is tough! They have music, food, drink (whiskey buckets and beer), volleyball, swings, zip-lines and huge poles to jump off (one is 100 feet high). We had great craic!

I was a little bit drunk so the rest of the lads were doing the swings more. One guy brought a camera so we'll have piccies soon. The internet is so slow uploading a hundred photos could take 2 days here!

In the capital now, Vientiane. Not much here except more temples etc so only spent one night here. Booked a plane to Hanoi at 17:00 today. Should be fun. In two weeks now we'll have been to 3 countries in South-East Asia which ain't half bad!

We say goodbye to all those we travelled with in Laos and we're starting afresh again. Thanks to Jerry and Huiben (the Dutch lads), Aiesha (Mon Cherie), Ruth, Mairead and Mary (the Irish, London girls), Will (the legend), John and Paula (our Mother and Father figures), and Dave (the krazy Kiwi). We may see some of them in Vietnam but if not guys, good luck and slan abhaile!

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Views so far

I haven't really had time to write any coherent thoughts about the places we've been yet because we have so little time. But we'll have a quick run through our experiences so far. Ray you might wanna note some of this for your trip.

We started in Bankok. We had no hotel booked and arrived at the airport fairly smashed after a long flight. Straight away we were getting shafted. When you arrive at Bangkok airport you have to go down one or two levels to get a taxi. The taxis are multi-coloured (pink or yellow/green), we hit the top floor which is the deleuxe taxis. A taxi to town should only cost 400 baht approx or else you are being ripped off!

On Cheevers' advice we hit T.A.T. (the "Tourism Board"), except there is two TATs... T.A.T., who are imposters, and TAT the real tourist board! We went to the former and probably spent 50-100 euro over the odds. We booked 2 nights in Bangkok, a VIP bus to Chiang Mai, 2 nights in Chinag Mai, a 3 day trek while there, our visa to Vietnam, and the slow boat to Laos for 2 days. All this cost 250 euro, not bad at home but you can always haggle! Ask to see the exact amounts and breakdowns and question them.

Bangkok is crazy, ping pong shows, Westerns and Thai girls, bars, scam merchants and expenisve shopping malls. It's an experience and aclimatises you to the haggling world and the seediness of the place.

So off to the bus station for a 9 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, near the north border with Burma. We got the VIP bus which costs 800 baht. If the travel agent tries to charge more say no I'll get the ticket myself and ask for the whereabouts of the bus station.

Chiang Mai is nice and quiet. We had a nice place and it was cheaper than Bangkok. We hit an "Irish Bar" and the market while there. Nice enough to see. We then went on our trek. You can be lucky with the trek. The quality of the experience depends on so many things, the people you are with, the distance you cover, the weather, the path you take, and the guides. We got lucky, great guides, great people and the weather wasn't too bad. Ponchos are a must in this season! We also got elephant rides and bamboo rafting as part of the trek. All in all a great few days.

When we got back we hit the town with the trekking crew and one of the guides. We had the guide drunk after 2 pints and a whiskey and he was off home. We stayed out and hit a night club. Good craic, seediest joint I've ever been in. Somehow we managed to get 6 in a Tuk Tuk after and neary broke the thing. The guy was not happy.

Next day we were up early for the slow boat. Books, iPods, PSPs as well as cushions are a must. 7 hours the first day and 9 the next. Laos is a lovely country, a complete change to the hustle and bustle of Thailand. We haggled a VIP boat the next day for $200 amongst 15 of us. This was a great plan. We had airplane bucket seats and a cooler of beer. Made the trip fly and we arrived before the other 60 peeps in LuangPrabang and got the choice of hotels in the area. Paid 400 baht for a room with four of us (8 euro). Some of the crew hit the waterfalls and they looked spectacular here. Blue water and deep plunge pools that you can dive into.

We hired a "VIP" bus to ViangVien. It was hell! No aircon and a 5 hour ride with no leg room! ViangVien is the tubing spot. Best laugh ever! Will post pics soon as I get them off Dave the Kiwi who brought his camera. A waterproof bag is a must BTW. Very handy for waterfalls and rivers etc!

On to the capital of Laos then, Vientiane. Nice place. Not much to do and quite expensive to stay. We had to pay $15 dollars to stay in a place because we arrived at like 9 at night. We got a flight to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Beware, you have to pay to get out of both Vietnam and Laos, no cost in Thailand. We had spent all our Kip in Laos so had to take out dollars!

In Hue now, waiting to catch a bus to Hoi An. 12 hours to here only to be told to get off the bus and wait for a 2 o'clock bus to Hoi An, another 5 hours. Playing pool in a bar with some Vietnamese now. Good laugh to pass the time. Oh and it gave me a chance to write some collective thoughts about the last 2 weeks and 2 days... Mad, 3 countries in 2 weeks. Check out our progress on a map of Asia. We've nearly travelled around Ireland 6-7 times in the number of Kms now. Oh the joy! We're getting suits done in Hoi An for a few days. Mum there'll be some suits heading your way soon! Whether I'll actually ever be home to wear them is another story!

YES YES!! Bring on Natrang!

And yes in defence of the waterfall pic, we were there about 6 days most of which was on a bus and of not with factor 50 involved. We're not on package holiday, it's backpackers tan all the way; arms, face and tops of the feet only! Meath farmers would be so jealous!

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Laos Piccies

Here are some of the Laos piccies that we got from the Dutchies we were hanging out with there. Both of them are gay in case you were wondering!

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