The bus ride from hell

Last night i made a stupid stupid decision to catch the night bus from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai.. i am still now deciding what the worst part of the trip was so i will let you all decide for yourself....

• spending 15 hours on a bus
• the seats not reclining
• there being absolutely no leg room
• it being 40 degrees
• the windows not opening or closing properly
• the bus being way over crowded
• hearing someone coughing up phlem in front of me
• 15 minutes later feeling my feet get wet
• then realising the coughing was the lady in front of me throwing up
• chuck being all over my feet
• 10 hours later the lady in front of me still throwing up
• looking down the aisle and it being covered in spew
• holding my feet up all night so they wouldnt touch the ground
• THE SMELL
• at 1am 4 kids on the bus crying all at the same time
• 2kids asleep in the aisle.. stealing my spot haha
• a kid asleep on my foot
• one of the kids on the seat in front of me wetting his pants
• ONCE AGAIN THE SMELL
• watching the sun rise once again.. sounds pleasant but iv seen enough of unwanted sunrises on this trip
• the bumpy bumpy road
• only having one hour sleep
• knowing that the only thing getting me through was writing this blog

Im sure there was more but i can not remember right now.. but please let me know what you think the worst part was.. I don't think i would have made it without Sarah.. an awesome aussie chick i was sitting next to.. it was just me and her and the crazy laos people.. but sarah came prepared with incence.. my life saver!!!!

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng is the best place in the whole entire world!!!! Maybe i havnt seen the whole world but its up there!! It's a little town surrounded by limestone mountains with the Mekong thro the middle and there is so much to do. The town is set up for tourists tho so its a massive party everynight and friends and family guy are played over and over again all day and night.. I cant believe Joey falls in love with Rachael?? Iv never really got into friends but now im addicted haha
On my first day here i went rockclimbing which was awesome!! I was climbing with a dutch girl Leila and the first few climbs we were like wow this is pretty cruisy we were zooming up the mountain.. then.. the instructors put up a new rope and wow it was the hardest thing iv ever done.. seriously i didnt think id make it but my guns didnt fail me and i got up haha
The last two days iv been tubing, which is so much fun! Tubing is the lao way of sitting in a tube floating down the river stopping at the bars lined up next to each other on the banks.. great fun
The aim is to make it to the end of the river and i seriously tried to do it but both times i only made it to the smile bar which is about the 4th bar down and 20metres down the river.. very poor effort.. but at the bars they have massive rope swings into the river.. so much fun and volleyball courts
Unfortunately for the last 4days iv been so sick throwing up.. not sleeping.. wanting to die.. so i missed out on seeing the caves in Vang Vieng and also the waterfalls in Luang Prabang not happy at all.. but iv got the gibbon experience in 2days so im trying to concentrate on that.. oh well guess im going to have to come back and see what i missed out on
So Im in Luang Prabang now i havnt seen anything but my bed, the main street and the doctor but its such a beautiful place! I feel like im in Europe.. apparently alot of french come here and rent little houses on the river front for a month for $70,000, which is crazy this is asia? There are little bakerys everywhere and a night market everynight, which is so hard not to buy things from.. im catching a bus to Huay Xai tonight for the Gibbon experience yewww cant wait to zip line thro the forrest!!
I know i keep saying everything is amazing and awesome but there are no other words to describe how good this country is!!

Laos.. 4000 islands (don det) & Tad Lo

I had no problems getting my passport back it all worked out really well.. Im now in Laos and it is by far my favourite country so far! It is so relaxed everyone is just happy to see you and aren't trying to rip me off
Its been new year here and its been so much fun.. they celebrate by throwing water at each other and drinking alot of lao beer they really know how to celebrate as well cos the holiday is for 7days.. why don't we celebrate for 7 days?? haha
The first place i went was 4000 islands which is very south of Laos where the mekong fans out into 4000 islands in the dry season.. I stayed in Don Det island which is the most relaxed place in the mst relaxed country in the world.. there is only 4 hours of electricity a day and the island is so pretty, covered in palm trees and there are animals roaming around everywhere.. I was with a group of 6 people me and Karen met on the bus.. the first day me and Karen rode bikes to another island and cycled to some waterfalls and went swimming.. the waterfalls were huge considering its the dry season here i cant even imagine how much water there would be in the wet season.. we thought it would be a good idea to go off the main track and see what we could find and ended up on the bumpiest road ever i wouldnt even call it a road more like a bunch of huge rocks piled up on each other!! We got to the end of the road and i was like 'wow im so proud of these tyres for not puncturing' yep i spoke way to soon im riding along struggling while Karen was fine.. turns out my tyre was flat haha and it was a 2 hour walk back to the guesthouse.. Nooooo!! Literally 2metres down the road there happened to be a tyre puncture repair shop so im guessing it doesnt happen very often haha..
The next day we all drank with the locals and jumped off the resturants into the river it was so much fun.. then we went on a boat tour to another island where the locals go to celebrate the year and it was such an experience the whole island was packed and we were the only westerners there.. everyone stared at us.. awkward.. at first all the kids ran away if they got too close to us but when we were leaving the island we walked down the hill to the boat and seriously 100 kids ran after us with water guns and water bombs.. we had no chance lol so we had a massive water fight with all these kids it was so good!!
The next few days were jst much of the same celebrating with the locals everyone is so friendly when they see you the smile and say 'sabaidee' which means hello.. oh i also rode a wild water buffalo haha it could have turned out really badly because i had no idea how it would react.. but it jst kept doing what it was doing and eating the grass lol great pic tho im jst waiting 4 Karen to upload it.
I have been in Tad Lo for the past few days which is an even more beautiful place the bugalows are right on the river front with a massive waterfall right on your doorstep.. As you have read Ive now seen my fair share of waterfalls.. they are absolutely everywhere
Me and Josh (a weirdo i met in Don Det) rode a moto there and got absolutely drenched every 10 metres down the road.. the streets were lined with kids throwing water, there was no way of avoiding it and if it wasnt the kids wetting us it was a group of drunk adults in pick up trucks driving past hahaha
The New Year was even bigger in Tad Lo there were stages set up everywhere with music all day and night and stalls set up everywhere.. the waterfall was covered in people swimming it was such a good atmosphere.. I ate breakfast with a Laos family one morning by the waterfall everyone is just so friendly!!! The group i was with and I drank beer Lao and danced with the locals all night.. and by all night i mean until 11pm because Laos has a Kurfew off 11pm everywhere.. this is what i mean by laid back
Oh i nearly forgot i went on my first elephant ride.. It was freaky to start off with, i felt like i was going to fall off every step it took.. Most people sit on the seat on its back but i got to sit on its neck which was so much better and a few minutes into it my guide jumped off and walked behind us singing so me and the elephant got some serious alone time haha i love it! Iv also heard from other travellers that when theyve had elephant rides the elephants had been treated really badly and hit with sticks and what not but the elephant i went on was treated really well my guide didnt even touch it which was a massive bonus!!!
Im now in Vientiene which is the capital of laos.. the bus here was a nightmare the bus was packed and i had no room.. i was cold.. and i couldnt sleep.. it was a 10 hour ride which i usually dnt mind but i jst couldnt sleep.. it was 3am and i was frustrated!!! So i climbed over the lady next 2 me and slept in the isle of the bus for 3 hours.. im sure it will be funny in a few years time BUT NOT NOW!!!
Im also solo again for now which is good i have been waiting for a night on my own.. so today i rode around the city seeing the sights and got really really lost haha.. but i met 2 guys from adelaide who are here playing Football tomorrow.. and Im talking real football.. aussie rules!! Which is not what i expected im in Laos?? haha but anyway im going to watch the game tomorrow which should be good
Im know i should be putting pictures up as i write new blogs but its hard because all the pics that relate are still on my camera but i will put some up soon
miss you all dearly x

Virachey National Park

I just got back from my trek.. Karen and I decided to do 4day 3 nights instead because it was only $15 extra.. it was lets say and experience! The first day we went to the market to buy food.. and by food i mean rice, vegetables and eggs and lots of it! Then we spent the next 90 minutes on the back of a moto bike.. iv said it before and il say it again its amazing what you can fit on a single bike.. we had a backpack in front of the driver, 12 bottles of water between me and the driver, me sitting on my hands trying to hold on for dear life, and my backpack on my back pulling me backwards.. Karen had the same but instead of water she had pots and pans inbetween her legs.. It was so hard to hold on going up the hills i seriously thought i was going to fall off.. so we survived that part then at lunch and our guide met us with our 'boat' to get to the village.. the boat was a tree trunk cut in half, full of water all we could do was laugh, we spent the next 3hours on the 'boat' and got to the village where we set up our hammocks and ate dinner.. Next morning we got woken up at 6 for breakfast mmm wonder what we are having rice and veg yet again, then treked thro the jungle for 3hours until we came to a almost dried up river for lunch.. which was different.. we had carrots this time haha.. and we were attacked by flies!! Then we treked further to the camp site and swam in the river which was much needed!! Meanwhile the whole trip the guide in front of me was smoking a joint the whole time.. what?? We spent the night in the jungle which was really cool but i heard animals all night and it was really hard to sleep knowing there may be a tiger around somewhere.. The next day we treked some more back to the village and spent the night there again.. i cant believe what these people eat.. the guides caught fish when we were at the river and brought them back to the village to eat.. the fish were left in the sun all day and in the morning they were half eaten and covered by ants but hey why let that stop you eating it.. ill pass thanks.. and 1 of our guides found a dead baby bird that had fallen out of the nest it was that young it didnt even have feathers mmm what should we do with it.. why not put it on a stick.. grill it and eat it for dinner??? YUK!!
Today we Kayaked down the river for three hours and by kayaked i mean me and Karen were too lazy so we sunbaked and drifted the whole way haha and now we are back in town..
Im about to go get my passport fingers crossed its there.. and 2moro we are heading to Laos yay I'm really excited!!
Bye for now

Kratie, Bun Lung

I ended up staying in Phnom Penh for a few more nights with everyone, which was really good we visited the russian market and central market, which was interesting and for some reason i brought a dressing gown that i do not need lol stupid really because the only reason i got it was because i bartered the price down to $10 from $15.. what will i do with it now.. mum its coming your way haha.. we didn't really do much more just went out. I then went north to Kratie bymyself, which is a little town on the Mekong and saw the dolphins and watched the sunset it was so cool watching the dolphins playing around... I would have loved to move further north the next day but turns out there are no atms for the rest of cambodia and none in the south of Laos which is where i am headed next ahhhh... meanwhile i asked the taxi driver that took me to the bus station in phnom penh to take me to an atm first and he said there will be one in Kratie.. So i spent 8 hours the next day backtracking to an atm.. which sucked!! I got so sunburnt.. my bum hurt.. it was way too hot... there was a storm the night before so the first part of the trip took 2 hours instead of 15mins.. slipping and sliding thro mud cars and motos were piled up and we had to drive thro little villages to try and get thro but finally i made it to an atm and got out enough money.. thinking everything would now be fine to get to Laos i went further north to Ratanakkiri which is pretty much on the border... and i found out that you can not get a laos visa on the border i am going thro because it has only new and not properly established yet.. i thought i had done my research i have met so many people that have gone thro the border and got their visas for cambodia but turns out you cant do it the opposite direction.. no!!!!!! I was devostated there was no way i was travelling all the way back to penom pehn again so iv sent my passport off and am hoping i don't get scammed and get it back in a few days.. That problem over I love this place.. i was sitting at dinner last night waith some people from my bus and I saw Jayme and Evan walk past.. what??? I am in the middle of nowhere and i thought they had already been and gone but they just happened to walk into my guesthouse looking for a pool table.. it was crazy and turns out they have been stuck here with no money.. theres that no atm problem again haha.. so they stuck around another day and we (me Jayme, Ev and Karen a kiwi girl im now with) all rented motos and went to the waterfalls and lake today.. it was awesome!!! We are in a place surrounded by dust and were absolutely covered with thick dust.. and then in the middle of nowhere there are 3 waterfalls and a huge lake.. we jumped off the waterfalls and swam in the lake all day.. Cambodia is a great country i love it!! It keeps getting better still.. tomorrow Me and Karen are going on a trek 2 night 3 days thro the jungle cant wait il let you know how it goes
x