Laos? Done.

After our whistle stop of Laos, we're shortly due to catch our next flight, Lao Airways, for Hanoi... Wish us luck!

In a nutshell then, Laos is a country of diversity. There's a feel of relative western influence, not least the French in the major cities (Vientiane, Luang Prabang). This however seems quite far removed from the population itself. Sure, there's nice buildings, scatter cushions, nice spa's and bakeries, but the people don't live in the colonial towns, they don't own the cushions, and they certainly can't afford treatments and massage - after talking to a girl yesterday, she earns 80p for giving an hour massage, and works a 13 hour day, 7 days a week.

If you look merely 5 minutes away from here, you'll uncover the outlying villages (the real Laos), paved by mud tracks, seemingly ramshackle buildings which shout DIY, and children walking happily amongst livestock.

For me, the best experiences, have been visiting the places where the people live, to see where the locals eat, and where they wash their clothes and themselves in the river. If you look 50 yards upstream, you might see Water Buffalo, or even us washing our Elephants.

The people here, they don't have much, but they don't seem to want it. Family values and friendship are definitely close to the heart, you just have to look in the street at the kids playing with bicycle tyres, or a
mother clutching her baby as she cooks. The saddening part really I guess is not seeing this at home, when was the last time you saw a group of children laughing almost uncontrollably? Maybe the UK lifestyle is too far removed from this for comparison?

I'd definitely like to visit Laos again, the people here are friendly, welcoming and often not hard pressed to throw a smile in your direction. It definitely seems a daunting prospect as London looms wide on the horizon, the city that if you rely on the surly waiting roomesque tube etiquette and common practice (or art) of looking through people, just seems worlds apart, and it is!

Vientiane, not a lot to do there, maybe spend a day, rent a motorbike and take a ride out to a village, meet the local drug smugglers.

Vang Vieng, if you want Marijuana, Opium, Mushrooms or anything else trippy, come here, just don't expect to see any locals. Worth a visit for the Tubing, scenery and eco-trips though. (see pics)

Luang Prabang, for us, it was Elephant riding, Kayaking, Night Market and learning the perils of Pottery making. Lots of temple, and then a few more.

You can't easily summarise Laos (or indeed many of the places we've visited), but hopefully the constant stream of pictures can fill in the holes in my vocabulary.

Anyway, we're off to 'Nam maaaaan, and guess what? You just weren't thereeee maaaan.

We'll be meeting Rik and Rach in a few hours, and Rik has English teabags..... Woooooooooooooeiiiiiii

Cya soon!