Laos

As you might have guessed we flew to Laos in the end - 1 hour on a plane vs. 3 days with drunken backpackers on a boat - it wasn't a difficult choice.

We stayed at a beautiful mid-sized town called Luang Prabang for a couple of days and then took an 8 hour boat ride north to the tiny village of Nong Kiaw. The boat was about 4 feet wide, 40 feet long and had 4 tiny chairs in it for the passengers. It's a beautiful, if slightly treacherous, journey to Nong Kiaw - against the current and attempting to avoid the rocks or running aground. At one point the river was about 8 inches deep and so the husband and wife(?) crew pushed the boat along for a while with a bamboo pole. I think they underestimated the weight of 4 western tourists and accompanying backpacks(!)

Laos must be one of the most laid back and beautiful countries in Asia. We're fairly convinced the government is feeding sedatives to the people through the drinking water. Most problems are greeted with 'Oh well' - including any of our whines about mosquitos or the lack of tap water.

I'll leave that there as we need to run for the night bus to the Laotian capital, Vientiane. More soon.