One night at the thai border.....

We arrived at our hotel........and to start with were a little disappointed as breaky wasn't included! But they had a pool so that was good, we were shown to our room.........it was awful :( it was such a dump :( the room wasn't decorated, it had no paint on the walls the doors did not shut properly which allowed all bugs to get in, there was no mozzie net :( luckily we had our own which we would defo be using! There was no air on just a very noisy fan and the bathroom was outside where we had geckos crawling around! It was not what we wanted after a 2 day boat trip and hill tribe stay :( 

We had a wash, set up the mozzie net and met the group for dinner, we were starving and were in dyer need of some carbs! We were hoping the restaurant would have western and Asian food, but it didn't it only had Asian so we basically had a plate of veg and rice, which was ok, but did not fill the void that was in my stomach :( we were very tired and after dinner it was time for bed, we headed back climbed in our mozzie netted bed! I had some FaceTime with our niece and nephew first which was lovely still missing them like made :( but seeing there little faces makes us smile :))) we slept pretty well and woke up the next day, to board another bus to our next destination - chang mai! Another 7 hour drive away! We were getting a little sick of the travelling everyday and not being in one place for more then a day! We couldn't wait to get to out 4 and 5 star hotels and rest together  and explore on our own. :)

Chang mai - another journey from hell !

We had another very scary journey to chang mai, the driver was just being stupid and overtaking everyone even lorries on blind corners he nearly lost control multiple times, and none of us had seat belts :( it was just horrible :( only the driver and passenger had seatbelt, it was just awful, I had simply had enough of fearing for our lives every time we get into a vehicle, the only good part of that journey was stopping at the amazing white temple.....

....it was simply stunning and very much reminded us if Christmas :) we then continued our journey and stopped at a cashew nut factory, ??? A completely pointless stop just for tourists to spend money one of the things that was starting to annoy us. We were just hoping that we had a nice hotel to arrive to.....

.....and thankfully we did, "chang mai gate hotel" it was nice and definitely better then the last one! We settled in and set out to explore- this was probably one of the quieter large towns we had been to! We were expecting it to be busier then this.

Our 2 day trek up the Mekong river & hill tribe stay!

So the day had come.....for the 2 day trip up the Mekong river and dreaded hill tribe stay! We had to wake up early (as usual!) and get on a tuk tuk down to the pier where we would board our boat, I am not quite sure what I was expecting.....the guide said it was lovely spacious and comfortable!.....the reality was it was long, thin and kitted out with car seats! Any way when we actually got on it it wasn't to bad.....

It was relatively comfy, and we was quite tired so decided to rest our eyes for a bit, although this was going to be a very long journey the scenary yet again was proving to be very beautiful :)) we played some games on the ipad, ate some snacks etc etc until finally our hill tribe village was in sight!......

.......I was still no more excited about this, but was also very tired so just wanted to get in, get to sleep and get out! It was a round 6pm when we arrived, we were introduced to the village chief and after a steep walk up tot he village were shown to where we were going to be sleeping......we had only just found out that's the boys and girls would be separated as it was against village rules to let us share a room :( I was so upset staying with Luke was the only thing that was going to get me through the night, oh well there was nothing we could do about it now, the room I was to be staying in was......well...... See for yourself......

....I was just dreading it! Anyway we moved on, had a guided walk around the village where we were told there were 57 families living there and around 360 people in total, there was a newly built school, the girls only went to primary school and the boys went to both primary and secondary, there was a hut where the woman went to have there children, and in each house/ wooden hut one whole family lived and many family's had 7,8,9 children! It was a real eye opener, we went to the chiefs main place for dinner, they had cooked us either chicken or vegetable curry, rice and more vegetables, me and Luke had vegetable curry and it was very nice. We hung around for a bit with the group, a lot of the people from the village came up to see us, our tour leader said that when "tourists" come to do the hill tribe stay it's like they are seeing movie stars! And it did feel a bit like that! Every came to watch us eat and chat, a lot of the Kids came to see us and they were all super cute.....

.....we were just about ready to get to our "bed" and Luke spotted a huge spider !!!! It was massive and moved pretty quickly! The whole group was freaking out and we all moved our bags and watched it very closely until it went under Luke's bag and disappeared ! 

Me and Luke said our goodbyes for the night and separated :(. We got to our room.....the other girls decided to brave the toilet I did not,there was no electricity, no light and the toilet was not western! I was defo not going there! I just set up my bed, made sure my ear plugs were in for fear of bugs crawling in them and tried to sleep, I was so pleased we had a mozzie net! The time was going super slow and obviously I couldn't sleep! Even tho I was super tired about an hour ago! Always the way! Anyway the night went slow and when my alarm went off at 5am I was already awake :( I got up and went downstairs to meet the rest of the group and of course my lukee :))) I was so happy to see him :) 

It was very dark and we made our steep descend back to the boat, climbed aboard and had a nap :) we were leaving early as we had to get to the Laos immigration before it shut at 6pm and then over to the thailand one for our visas before they shut!

The day went very slowly, we tried to entertain ourselves, the scenary was again stunning :) but by about 3pm we were getting so restless and just wanted to get to our next hotel ! By about 4.30 we were told we were close and what the plan was for when we get off, we would get off at Laos one side of the river and on the other side pretty close is thailand it was so odd! We docked in, got off and had to walk up a massive steep hill to the top, luckily one of the guides took my bag! We all got in a tuk tuk again! And made our way 5 minutes down the road to the "immigration office" which was a tiny box down by the river! I would hardly call it a immigration office! And between the hours of 4-6pm you had to pay the officers a doller for stamping you out of Laos! I am sure these people just make up the rules as they go along! Anyway we all got stamped out of Laos and then it was time to say goodbye to our Laos tour guide "tong"! He was lovely but he had to go back to start another tour, in Laos you have to have a local tour guide with you even if you are on a organised tour. 

We boarded our next boat to cross the river and this one was tiny and we all just about fit on it with our bags! The couple of minute journey took us to thailand! And here we went to the thai immigration office again another tiny box just randomly position on the side of the road! Mea. H like already had visas so we just got our stamp and boarded the next vehicle to take us to our overnight hotel! We were just hoping that it was a nice hotel and that the bathroom was clean we desperately wanted a shower After all that travelling!

Luang Prabang

Wew as up early for our loooonng bus journey, Luke wasn't feeling so great but I gave him some tablets and we sat at the back of the bus where we could have four seats and he could lay down. The scenery on this journey was even better then the last journey......mountains, rivers, waterfalls just general beauty everywhere it really was one of the most beautiful places we had ever been to :) I tried to take some pics and video but mostly just took it all in :) we stopped twice on this journey, the first place was right on the top of the mountains and to say it again the view just took our breath away :) just truly amazing. I used the bathroom there and when you walk into your cubicle there is no actual wall! You are just sitting on the toilet looking out onto the view! It was a different experience! We had a drink got some snacks and then met the most beautiful puppy! It was so tiny and cute! We hadn't touched any dogs yet on this tour through fear of catching something but this dog was to cute to resist! We fed it some crisps and had a cuddle being careful not to let it lick us and then washed our hands and used the hand sanitiser I had in my bag! Back on the bus we continued our journey through the very windey mountains until we finally reached our destination.....

........Luang Prabang is the old capital of Laos, and again was a beautiful little town. We arrived by bus after another lengthy journey but with beautiful scenery :) to our little guesthouse called "malida" guest house, it was a small establishment but quite perfect for the group. We set our bags down and all set out for a walk to the tallest mountain there with a temple on top to watch the sunset. We walk along the streets through the night market which was just starting to be set up and climbed the 300 odd steps to the top of this mountain! Good work out but in that heat it was hard! The view from the top was more then worth the journey up the steep stairs, you could see the whole town and when the sunset began it was simply -beautiful :) of cors it was packed with tourists and you had the usual idiots that seem to think they are the only ones who want to get a good picture and stand in front of everyone else! That irritated Luke a little! 

After the sunset it was time for dinner......an Aussie bar is where we went and it had some gorgeous food, big portions as well, we ordered a bit to much food as we were starving and couldn't eat it all! We decided after to wonder through the night market.....there was so much stuff to buy! We wished we had suitcases! So many little pressies I could buy for my chester and Millie pops, but I had to resist the urge as we had absolutely no room in our bags :( I did buy myself a pair of elephant baggy 3/4 lengths that I had wanted :) the market was huge we walked through a bit and then headed back.....not before stopping at the crepe stall so I could get a Nutella and peanut butter crepe! Delicious.

The next day we had a bit of a lay in and Luke got us a cup of tea to have in our room and chilled out for a bit before going to joma's bakery to get lunch (which was as delicious ! ) and to also get lunch for the next day as we were going on the 2 day boat up the Mekong river and lunch was not included - roasted veggie and hummus subs! Lovely!

We had arranged with the group to go to one of the bigger waterfalls that afternoon for a few hours and our tour guide kev arranged for us to have a mini van there and back. It was also a bear rescue center on the grounds of the water fall, which is gunna be interesting.....I wasnt sure what to expect from that....being in asia...... Before you get to the waterfall you walk past the bear rescue center.....after watching the animals andr easing what the centre was all about it seemed that this was a genuine rescue center and all of these poor bears had had the most terrible life  and were bought to this rescue center to be looked after, there were also an endangered species, I decided I would buy a strappy top with save the bears on as all proceeds go to caring for the bears.......we walked on and foundt his waterfall! It was much bigger the we thought, it was a bit of a walk but a beautiful one. There were several platforms and bridges which you could either swim off or take some pics, luke was dieing to get in the water ! But we walked on wanting to see the whole fall before relaxing. When arriving at the  top it was just stunning more beautiful and bigger thent he one we had seen in vang vieng :) took some lovely pics and even climbed some rocks to have some pics right next to the waterfall.

 It was now time for a dip....the water was cold! I started to get in first and then all of a sudden it got deep! And I fell in! That eliminated the struggle of slowly getting in cos it was so cold! Luke thought it was hilarious until ten minutes later he was forced to jump in because there were red ants crawling all over him coz he had been leaning against a tree and they were all over his hand ! It was soooo funny! 

A very good afternoon! :) 

In the evening we decided to go out for dinner on our owna s we wanted to get a early night for our two day sail and hill tribe stay! We found this really romantic little restaurant called the "Belgian chocolate house restaurant" quite nice smaller portions but good food, during the meal a little cat jumped on my lap out of no where and scarred me to death I jumped out of my skin! But all in all a good night and we had also enjoyed out stay in this lovely town :)  

Vang Vieng

We had a long journey to reach our next destination "vang vieng" 4 hours on a bus on a bumpy road, and Luke was starting to feel ill :( we boarded and set off and for one of the first times in our asia tour we encounter the most amazing scenery :) it was just stunning and really took our breath away all you see was mountains and greeary with waterfalls here and there it was like nothing we had seen so far :) 

We arrived in the small town of vang vieng and were informed this was a very touristy part of Laos where people came to do lots of outdoorsy stuff e.g river tubing, swimming, kyacking etc. we were excited......

........we arrived in our guest house (villayvong guesthouse) and it turned out we each got our own little bungalow complete with mozzy net! Luke was happy :)) it was a lovely little place, we didn't gave a fridge and the bathroom was a little odd and had bugs In there complete with baby cockroaches! But we didnt care we just killed them all and quickly forgot about it! It was easy to do with all the gorgeous scenario around us :) we did have air con! And a fan ! Things were good! We met the group to watch the sunset from a very close restaurant, it was so beautiful the backdrop around us was mountains and water it was just beautiful. We then made our way to town (which was even smaller then hoi an!) checked out the local tour operater centre and tried to decide what to do in our only full day in this adorable town :) we couldn't write decide so we went for dinner and yo have a think the restaurant if choice was calked the bannana leaf I think! We soon realised that everywhere in this town you don't actually sit on tables and chairs to eat you sit on sort of a wooden platform with cushions and a low table! It was odd at first but after a while we enjoyed it! And of cors we had the stunning view to gorp at while we ate :) after dinner came a bit of pool playing where Luke beat me once again! I really need to up my game with pool playing! And then it was chill out time with a cold drink to finish the night! This restaurant had the same style seats with cushions at the front of the restaurant with a few tv's where they were playing episodes of friends all day! Well....I was in my element! We sat down had a cuddle and drank our lovely cold refreshing fruity ice shakes! Perfect first night I think.

We got up bright and early to really enjoy a full day here, we had decided after lots of umming and arring on whether to get a buggy car thing (which looked like great fun but expensive!) or get a moped for the day! We decided to save the extra cash and get a moped! It was only about £6-£7 for the whole day (7-7) and then you just buy your petrol! So we collected it and off we went..... Luke driving of course and me as passenger I made sure we both had helmets thinking of my mum! And off we went nothing was gunna stop us now we wanted an adventure! Luke said he felt a bit rusty as he hadn't driven a moped for a while but I think he just settled right back into it, he rode it like he had just rode one yesterday I immediately trusted him to look after me on this bike - which we thought was a small engine moped but in fact was a 125cc ! However I knew he would drive safely.

We had a great time on it we just drove and drove for about an hour just looking at the scenery outside of town, taking pics, and enjoying ourselves, I could tell Luke was enjoying himself this was the kind of adventure and fun he wanted us to have on this trip :) I was very happy and actually had a moment of
thinking how lucky I was to be having such fun and adventure with the man I love :) and who wants to have as much adventure in life as me :) I was happy.

We decided to try to find a waterfall that was on the map we were given! It took a while to find the turning but we found it! It then took us 20 minutes on a very very bumpy track to actually find it! We did wonder at times whether we had taken the wrong turning! We arrived at the entrance and of cors had to pay! We were just happy we found it and were looking forward to cooling down! After a difficult chat with 2 of the locals and parking our bike we managed to find our own way to the waterfall it was quite a hike and we were so hot ! But we made it! And it was beautiful :) we took some pics cooled down and headed back to the bike, not so looking forward to the ride back to the main road ! The back seat was pretty hard! 

Our next venture we decided to be the blue lagoon another place that our tour guide recommended, this one not to hard to find but again another 25 minute bumpy ride to the location and paying an entrance fee even and we had to pay to get across one of the bridge to get there! But getting in that water it all seemed worth it! It really was a "blue lagoon" the water was cold but refreshing, it was lovely. And had rope swings and a big tree that people were jumping off it was small but perfect and very very deep ! Deeper then you think it will be! We spent a couple of hours there and then decided  we would go have drink and something to eat, but not before I had a go on the moped! I enjoyed my turn but was not as well balanced as Luke! He drove us to the same place we had dinner in town and we enjoyed another Ice cold fruit shake and a sandwich :) by this point Luke was feeling quite unwell, he didn't feel too bad on the moped with the wind blowing in his face but once we stopped he felt unwell we think it was a bit of sunstroke but it was hard to think how he had got it he always wore his hat and we hadn't really been out in the sun the previous days, I put if down to the heat and dehydration. We decided to go back to the bungalow for a rest and then evaluate the situation later.

We had a rest I gave Luke some tablets and he decided he wanted to go out and enjoy the bike a bit more so we went out, saw a hot air balloon take off and took so e amazing pics with the stunning mountains in the back, we rode around town and then Luke let me ride him around town ! How brave of him (and me!) I took it very slow ! Luke was very proud of me :) we took the bike back no problems, and just went back tot that same restaurant for a drink, snack and to relax watching friends! Just what Luke needed! Early night for us we had to be up early again for another long journey to Luang Prabang the old capital city of Laos. It was going to be a 7 hour bus journey! I hope Luke feels better.

Vang vieng was one of the most beautiful places we have visited so far on our trip we loved it and had a great time there, there was so much to do and the place had a relaxed atmosphere to it, this was such a difference to how we felt in Vietnam. We were happy :))

Chapter 4 - Laos - Vientiane

Arriving in Laos was completely different to arriving in Vietnam ! The scenery was amazing so many mountains and gorgeous views and a normal amount of motors on the road ! we were relieved to see some calm :)

.....our Hotel was a newly opened one, it reminded me of a little boutique hotel, lovely decor, the rooms were small but had a lit of character it had no lift ! So we had to lug our bags up 2 flights of stairs! (Well Luke lugged his! The porter took mine! ) we settled our stuff and joined the group for a walk around and dinner. Just walking around this capital city was pleasant and did not give any stress or safety issues at all we felt perfectly safe :) we walked past a ice cream shop which looked very interesting! I knew in my head we would be going back there for done cool down ice cream! We continued for dinner which we had in a three storey lantern covered restaurant which was nice, we discussed with the group plans for the next day and all decided on hiring push bikes to see the main sites as we only had the morning before we would leave for another long journey at lunch time. At the end of the night we walked to the river which separated Laos and Thailand the river was so small you were standing in Laos but Thailand was a stones throw away! It was weird!

......woke up bright and early for breakfast then headed out to get our push bikes! They were shall we say old and a little tired! But had character! We got on and all cycled off down the road, we weren't given helmets we knew this would be the case as the safety in Asia is not like the safety in uk! Mum would be worried about me! She is always saying to put a helmet on when you ride a bike! We had great fun, we saw many sites.......an arc that was inspired by the arc de triumph in Paris, it was beautiful, there were many locals there that looked a little shades so we tried to stick together and keep our valuables close to us, I had Luke with me so I knew he would look after me :) it was a stunning bit of architecture. Every time we stopped to take some pics I seem to drop my bike! It happened at least 4 times! Luke was laughing at me! We continued uphill! To the golden temple, which we were expecting to be a bit more amazing! But it was still nice to see it, it had a few temples around it that were really pretty we stayed there for around a hour, cycling round getting asked continuously by a woman holding tiny cages full of multiple birds if we want to buy a bird! I shouted at her at one point and said we don't want to buy the bird, it was so cruel the cages were tiny :( we continued to cycle round until we just thought we couldn't take the heat anymore and decided to cycle back to our hotel for a shower and to find some lunch! Obviously stopping at that ice cream shop on the way back to cool down with Some ice cream! I had a amazing malteaser concoction ! It was safe to say we both had sore bums after that morning of riding :( After showering we went in search of a bakery that had been recommended to us "joma's", we had a tasty lunch - I had a roasted vegetable and hummus bagel! Luke had a foot long sub :) we headed back to the hotel had a quick FaceTime call with mum and dad, boarded our bus for our 4 hour journey to vang vieng.

 

  

So far....... We are loving Laos :)

Hanoi and the Vietnam verdict !

So arriving back in Hanoi was a bit of a shock ! We had spent a lovely morning in calm and relaxing atmosphere and now we arrived in this bustling city that never stops!

To be honest we were not a fan of the cities as I said before about Ho Chi Minh but I somehow thought Hanoi would be different ! It was just as bust if not busier in the side roads. There were some things to see here but to be honest we were so sick of towns we just couldn't be bothered to spend a whole day out from dusk till dawn walking around in the stupidly hot and humid wheather, so we decided to talk a walk along the lake where there were many things to see and it seemed more relaxing to do that, we weren't out very long before we were to hot to walk any further, so headed for a cafe for a cold drink, and also sought out somewhere to eat called the gecko restaurant in the backpacker area it was lovely, good food, cheap drinks, happy hour every hour! It was all good until Luke got to the end of his sandwich and found he had a elastic band in his food that he had been chewing on! Anyway it didn't really fase us! Given everything else that we had seen! We then back to our hotel for a rest and to prepare for the next leg of our tour .......LAOS.

We were really looking forward to a change of scenery and getting out of this town and all towns for that matter and where looking forward to the starting this next adventure.

We are afraid to say that Vietnam isn't what we thought it would be, we thought it would be prettier, if not in the towns at least in the country. We found everyone wanted to sell you something and just wouldn't leave you alone, which we no is inevitable but we did get sick of it, overall there are only 2 places we would return to in Vietnam and that is nha trang and hoi an.

We are glad we visited Vietnam but would not do a tour again.