So what do you do for a good night out in Vientiane?

Drink Lao Sangria (very fruity, quite tasty really!)
Go to Karoke in 5 star hotel that no one stays in and is apparently sinking
Dance to Uptown Girl by Westlife (a classic as you pius boys will know)
And GO BOWLING!!! (i won both games, just thought you lucky readers might be interested)

Quite obvious really.......

.






This is basically the next week after my poor thongs kicked the bucket....

Yup thats right, buses, broken down buses an old city or two and a hell of a lot of jars.

Yes i think that explains it nicely.

Sarah sorry im lazy and didnt fix the bottom photo.

RIP White Havaianas.
2003 - 2006

Died while accompanying owner walking through a lake with strong current.

A great servent, will be remembered for being extremly comfortable, versatile and loyal - getting owner through caves, jungle, a bloody trip to RPA and of course - many a social event.

Is survived by White Havaianas with Australian flag on them.

Trek time!



The path we were met with at our 6am dash to make the boat!

After our night on the river in Moang Ngoi we walked out of town for a nice days walking through jungle, across rivers, through caves, stopped off in friendly villages for lunch before making our way to another for the night where we got a thatched hut priced at mean 50c a night! And thats for 2!



These were just some of my dinner choices, i setteled for the Buffalo. My expert opinion, Buffalo is the ugly sister of good ole beef.

Boat Trip No 1.



Cheeky mon, cheeky




How small are those Bannanas!!! ahahahahahahahah literally the size of my pinky!

These photos are from Muang Ngoi, a tiny little one street town only accessible by boat! Tre cool, this place although not to much to do as there are about 20 people here, was great to see all the scenery, and take it all in from our Bungalows on the water that cost us $1 a night! Ha water views for $1 a night, BRILLIANT!

Mum this is the bird that i bought your cushion cover off!
A bit nuts but that was half the appeal!





Luang Prabang!

Now this is a cool little world heritage town, quite cute with all the architecture being very old school French!

Days here were spent exploring the heritage town, walking up 300 and something stairs to get an awesome view of the Town and see another Temple with a massive reclining buddha, going to see waterfalls (see previous post!) or general relaxation in one of the cool cafes that this place has.

At night the night markets took hold and these things take half the night to do! So much stuff just lined up on the road lit by fairy lights! Also Luang Prabang was home to the best/cheapest meals! Vegetarian (only down side) buffet for 50c! Was great you just piled your plate as high as you could and wacked heaps of some tasty chilli sauce in and wala! Fantastic dinner and more money for the Beer Lao foundation!

One morning here was also spent observing "giving Alms" - big in Laos. Its where the locals line the streets at 6am, and streams of Monks come flooding out and collect goodies from them. Usually sticky rice but one case i saw lollies! haha

Waterfall waterfall, waterrrrwwaterrfaallll......ok it needs to be sung.

First photos of Luang Prabang are of this cool water fall a short drive out of the town! This place was great, cool little clear pools to swim in, waterfalls to try and stay alive under and a mammoth walk to the top of this water fall for some spectacular views!

In other news, Waterproof cameras rock my world.

They also had tigers and bears here, saw the bears, no tiger though.

LAOY LOAY first stop Vang Vieng!

After 2 hours in Vientiane we decided to get to on the first bus to Vang Vieng.

And basically this is all we did, float down rivers with the occasional (no i had a killer headache i swear its true!) drop of Beer Lao, swing off tree swings, eating packet after packet of Laos BBQ Chips and tell each other "Hey guys its a Monday, all our friends are at work right now......"

No honestly, we did other stuff here like watch Anchorman, go on a 30km bike ride through the mountains, go caving and drink around bonfires! Oh and Mon won the pool comp! Vang Vieng, a definate favourite.

How the hell do you explain to Cambodian what a Scientist is?

This was the problem i was posed with when i tried my hand at English teaching for the first time. In the end i think we got their, and after that it was allll smooth sailing. Words like walk are a lot easy to act out! Suprisingly they all know the word WINE quite well! Shouting out 'pissed' to show me there extensive knowledge of the subject! All in all was great fun and we went back and taught a few more times! Even on our last day we found it hard to leave especially with them all asking if they will see us tomorrow! A really great experiance and definatley a cherished memory of the country! oh yea that and the 1m high class room they gave me to teach in!

Farewell to departed friends!

Ok so i know its been about a month since we said ta ta to Pen nd Juls, and almost two weeks since we wished Timmay and Tristan goodbye (btw sorry Trissy, only photos ive got are on my other memory chip i think! - will hopefully get one up soon!). I thought i should do a bit of a remeberance blog. To say thank you to you all for joining our tribe and trapsing through S.E Asia with us. Was great to have you all and we definatley miss you since youve been gone! Julia i have plenty of better photos but i thought this one really captured the the essence of our relationship, or at least your relationship with my camera haha.

Pen, blue pumpkin............ thats all i have to say!