Laos!

Luangprabang had a strong French influence that was evident from it's numerous bakeries and small cafés. We quickly found the oudamphong guesthouse, recommeded in our guides and caught up with a couple of hours sleep after a tiring overnight bus. Next it was time to explore- we had lunch at the ...... café - widely acclaimed for it's sandwiches, and it didn't dissapoint. Next we headed to Wat Xieng Thong, before heading onto a 100m high vantage point to see the surrounding mountains and take some pictures.  Our transfer to Vang Vieng was due to take 6hrs but it actually took around 9. The roads were bump and the minivan cramped and uncomfortable. On the way we drove through the mountains and so saw the most amazing scenery. We also went through one of the many rainstorms we would be encountering as some of SEA entered it's wet season. When we arrived we checked into Jammee guesthouse,and had our first sample of the countries' beer- BeerLao. The next day we went tubing and met Nick, Nick and Johans from Denmark who we would be hanging around with for the next few days. Tubing was probably he best experience so far, with lots of activities to do like slides, zipwires, swings, basketball etc. Infact, Dan won us a free bucket after getting 3 baskets in a row. We returned at 6pm In order to get our deposit back and headed to a restaurant to have food with the Danish guys. That evening we went to the bucked bar- offering free buckets before 9.30 which we took full advantage off. There we met a tour guide who said he could take us to the caves by motorbike the next day and we agreed. Unfortunately I managed to lose my camera at the bar with all our tubing photos and videos on- such a shame! Biking the next day was interesting, whilst Dan rode with our guide myself and Josh rode alone down the dirt track roads. The cave was a 200m climb up but was worth it, toruist free, with unmarked paths and pitch black inside it felt as though we were the first ones there. We spent about 1 and a half hours there before returning to the blue lagoon for a swim and more platform acrobatics. The water was turquoise and there were loads of fish- a perfect place to cool off after the sweaty caves. After returning to our guesthouse  it was time to have a few more beers before the return of the bucket bar that evening! We were sad to leave the next day- VV was the place were we had had the most fun and it was a shame we had to move on. Our bus to Vientiene took 4 hours, the movie of choice being King Kong. We arrived had a few fruit shakes and boarded our sleeper bus, the bus we had been looking forward to becuase of the flat beds. Hysterical Laughter because of the disbelief of our beds ensued. We had be place in 'the cave' a triple bed (usually room for two) at the back of the bus, with a ceiling so low we couldn't sit next to the toilet. Dan also worryingly pointed out that we would be probably dead if hit from behind- bring on the 24hrs! On the way we passed a sad sight- a lifeless man on the road with his bike ontop of him- instead of stopping people just drove past! We reached the border at 2am but were woken at 6 to go through formalities, us and the Argentinian girls who were above use were made to walk about 1,5km to go through various checkpoints whilst the locals got a lift with the bus. We thought the crew resembled a nest of cockroaches especially the boss who we dubbed papa roach because of his angry nature and suicidal driving. We were relieved when we reached Ha Noi, exactly 24hrs after we had set off, and were looking looking forward to what Vietnam brings Harry, Dan and Josh