Laos

Laos

Scenery from a fairy-tale with the beautiful mountains that darted up in to the sky. The most picture perfect place we had been to yet, so rural and peaceful and un disturbed in some parts with next to no people speaking English but in other parts it is over run with teenage tourists and is full of western people because of the party scene.

Arrival

leaving at 6am when you had 20 minutes sleep I would say was a mission especially when you are on a small bus with no space, no air-conditioning, at 40 degrees, for 6 hours. We approached the Laos boarder and I got stopped because the guy didn't believe it was me in my passport picture (i was actually very flattered because I look rough in that picture) The first night we stayed in a quaint little village that looked like an old western movie.


Buda Park


We visited a Buda park with many Buda statues.

Vien Tieme

We had a Laos style massage which felt like I paid for a small woman to beat me in pajamas





Vang Vieng




Vang Vieng is a the party capital of Viet Nam. It is very westernized town full of tubing memorabilia and hang over restaurants (restaurants with lie down chairs selling burgers and playing friends or family guy in the background) I bought a Gangster hat and everyone started calling me Brittany.




Black Out

Our tour group went to a restaurant we ate, we laughed and we played games while a thunderstorm was brewing we watched tables fly over and watched as the rain drowned the pavements. Then suddenly the lights went out and the whole street was black. We played Chinese whispers and chatted by candle light then me, Ellie and Bean decided to dance in the rain, getting soaked before heading to Q bar for free buckets and our first night out.

Q bar was still pitch black for while but as soon as the music started I was first up there with my rude boy had and my gangster moves. we pretty much danced until closing. Afterward we headed to bucket bar, which was an outside club with stages, hammocks and strobe lights pattering the crowd. I kept dancing even though I was shattered from previously dancing for four hours but I did not stop.


Kayaking

It was breath taking the mountains piercing the sky with green reflections shadowing the water, everywhere looked so lush and natural. Me and Ellie rode together and sped ahead of everyone else only having a couple of mishaps riding in to the river side. It was a 10km ride when we got to 6km we stopped off to look at the zip wires and rope swings, they looked so dangerous seeing as we had just kayaked past where you would land it felt pretty shallow to be taking that big of a drop. We headed off again and after a couple of Km we fell off our boats and bobbed in our life jackets over to the water buffaloes.

Tubing

We took a tuk tuk to the river where there were wooden bars on stilts. It was the river we had previously been Kayaking down but there was about 20 bars on either side for about 2 miles all blaring out different music. We all fell into the water and as soon as a bar lassoed you in you had to buy a bucket from their bar. So it was basically a bar crawl but you swam to each bar or floated in your tube.

We got lassoed into Q bar and got spray painted, then played flip cup, danced while seeing people flying off the rope swings (the rope swings were as tall as a house and so not safe, you had ten year olds setting up them, so I just couldn't trust them) We headed down the river again. In some parts the current was really strong and the water shallow so you got dragged across the stones also when you are tipsy you don't realise how much it hurts. In the morning I was covered in bruises.

The tubing experience took us until 7:00pm where we ended up at the end of the river where we danced a lot more, also sat and chatted to people there and watched drunks attempt the death slide. A 50 ft slide that people had died on the previous year before they even hit the water.

The night out

everyone headed out from tubing straight to the clubs/ bars you had to cross a rope bridge to get to this one outside club where we spent most of the night. We chatted, we Danced until our feet where soar, then hung out in the hammocks. We where out till the early hours I wasn't as intoxicated as Ellie and Bean so I didn't head to the pub instead headed back with a few of the girls.The Scenery

We had an 8-hour bus ride where the scenery was breath taking. Mountainous and magical. We stopped off at a few places to admire the incredible views.


My Favourite day

A day of elephants, bears and waterfalls! We stared the day going to an elephant sanctuary. There was about 10 elephants standing in a row, we got to stroke them (they felt like a hairy stone) and took pictures. The place was beautiful with a missive river and mountains against a bright blue sky.

The ride was awesome and all the elephants looked so happy. We sat on what looked like a part bench attached to the elephants back with a stick to stop us from sliding off. Every step felt like we were going to fall. We rode through the river I felt to Surreal . When we got off them we got to feed them bananas and read their stories about how they were rescued.




Water falls

Incredible! I've never seen such baby blue water in such a natural setting. I was surrounded by waterfalls and dark grey rocks. We swam in the freezing pools of fresh water and flung ourselves from the rope swing.

We headed to the other smaller pools equally as beautiful and to the big waterfall. It was easily one of my favourite places in the world.

























The Monks

We woke at 5:30 am to watch the monks get their food for the day. their were so many rude tourists shoving their cameras in their faces being so disrespectful. We watched as the local people filled their bowls with rice. the headed off on our journey.The slow boat

A boat that got us back to Thailand beautiful scenery with long deep sleeps and a lot of time to think.

Viet Nam

Viet Nam A Beautiful and Culture filled place. A lot busier than Cambodia and way more hectic full of motor bikes and people racing around. Not nearly as poor as Cambodia but still street children and beggars. It was more westernized than I thought it would be. We started by hitting the ground running after a long long journey from Cambodia by only having 15 minutes rest before jumping on the back of some motor bikes.


1st Motorbike tour I had never been on a motorbike before and I have always wanted to. The guy I picked to ride on the back of was very excitable probably not the best person to choose for the first time. I gripped to the back seat as we darted traffic racing the other bikes not slowing for lorries buses or small children crossing the road. The Bikes took us up a small mountain in to look upon the view of Viet Nam we watched the sun set and headed back in the dark stopping of at a practically glow in the dark temple with an endless amount of neon lights, it was such a difference from the temples Cambodia.




Restaurant in Saigon We went out for the Danish boys last night in a lovely little restaurant, we didn't find out till later that we had been called Whores by some Vietnamese locals (over heard by Matt in the mens toilets) We had to be more careful with what we wore, what is summer clothes to us- showing leg could be seen as disrespectful in some parts.





Cu chi tunnels A guided tour around the Cu Chi tunnels where the Vietnamese hid during the Vietnam war. the tunnels where the size of a small person I couldn't even imagine going in one let alone living underground for at least 6 months which a lot people where forced to do. They had opened up one of the tunnels so tourists could go in them without getting stuck It was still only one meter by one meter and I couldn't bare to do it.


Mud Baths I was expecting what you see in movies where you are lying in think dark brown mud instead it was like Grey clay- pretty nasty sitting in it at first but was a lot of fun. We washed of in fresh hot water springs then were pounded by salt water, boiled in a tub of and cooled in a swimming pool.

Fruit lady This lady was selling bananas I bought one from her in return for a picture. In Viet Nam you would often see women of this age shuffling the streets selling what ever they had in there trolley of goods while faking a smile. This was taken just as her smile broke capturing her true emotion.

Hoi An The most magical city we have come across in Viet Nam, I took a lot of pictures around the cobbled streets capturing the authentic atmosphere of the place. We got dresses made in a place called Yuly it was an experience to have complete control over the design of the dress. I didn't have much money so had a little burgundy cotton dress made quite simple but fit me like a glove. After having our dresses made me and Bean realized just how appalling we where with sense of direction taking us an hour to find our way back to the hotel when it was meant to be a 10 minute walk in our defence each place looked so similar.





Called a Hooker for a 2nd time I got approached by a French lady who was propositioning me to come with her to Paris for a modelling job and she would put me up in hotels and pay for my flights. Niki who spoke French in the group spoke to here and realized that she was actually a pimp wanting high end escorts everyone else seemed appalled I was actually quite flattered.



2nd of the Motor Bike Tours The 3 hour tour was around Hue through the villages and rice fields. We saw the locals working in the rice fields, we went up a mountain which the Vietnamese used as a view point to spot and attack the Americans, We went to a temple where we rubbed a lucky frog statue. My favourite bit was the rice museum with a little crazy old lady who showed us how all the equipment was used to gather the rice. she had black teeth because in her day it was a sign of beauty to die your teeth black so she was flashing her smile to everyone. She also danced to I'm a Barbie girl and sang to us, I was in tears of laughter watching this 4ft 80 year old woman dancing about with the biggest smile on her face performing to us all.






Bold Men Obsession We went out to dinner and the owner of the restaurant came behind Alan (a guy from the our group) and took a photograph of his bald head. We asked her why and she walked away returning with 100's of laminated pictures of bald heads, very strange. she also told us she was famous in Holland and owned her own chat show I have a business card somewhere.



Ha long Bay We had a boat to ourselves decked out like a pirate ship. We stopped half way and jumped off the top of the boat into the cold water felt like you where falling for ages. We got to the caves and they were Incredible! Magical.





Karaoke One of my favourite nights on tour. We all headed to a karaoke Room some people where very involved (Erin and Jack) others not so much (Dwane) I think it was safe to say I sang the worst I had ever sung, but I think Ellie out shone me by quite away. We where the last ones there still rocking it out! Me Clarkson Christoph Elf Bean and Erin stayed till the end.


Ho Chi Minh We went to see Ho Chi Minh who was the leader in Viet Nam highly regarded. His body has been preserved even though he wanted to be reincarnated so his spirit could move on they went against his wishes and kept him on display in a museum. It was very strange we entered a room full of guards and Hon Chi Minh was in a glass casket just looking as if he was asleep. We later that day went on another motorbike tour and saw where John Mccane along with other American were imprisoned.

10 for one dollar

Culture Of Cambodia




















Street Kids- we were told not to give the children who were selling things money or buy anything from them because it keeps them on the streets. It was very difficult when they came up to you and started to beg and not leave you alone. I found it difficult not to photographs them but I tried not to encourage them to beg. These pictures above are of my tour group being told "10 for one dollar" by two street kids. the girl on the furthest left was so persistent she followed us for about 10 minutes repeating "one for one dollar" "no thank you" "10 for one dollar?" She ended up trying to get on our mini bus smacking at the doors as they closed.

The People