Finally some time to write ...

On the VIP bus, Laos style (see picture) to Vientiane, which gives me some time to do some writing. Thailand again was great, being in Laos makes me sometimes even more realise how much I love that country. And I will never complain again about the absence of decent bread in Thailand, Laos has amasing baguettes but I truly miss my Thai curries. It is strange how a country so far away can feel so much like home, but I will have a couple of weeks again in Thailand before coming back to the real world. All of this does not mean I am not enjoying Laos of course.

I spent a couple of days in Chiang Mai, visiting the temples, and completely suprised ran into Angelique who I met in Bangkok. To both our disappointment, she only had 3 weeks and our paths had to seperate in Pai ... In Chaing Mai, we rented a big motorbike and went into the mountains, so beautifull.

I managed to stay another 11 days in Pai, still one of my favourite places in the world and home to a lot of backpackers who get stuck there. Pai has a ideal combination of local life mixed without tourism with the tourist taking over the entire village. What did I do there, not that much, relaxing, trips on the scouter, drinking tea, reading my book, enjoying the nature and the mountains of Pai, partying. I did follow a cooking class, mmm Thai food is so good. My last day in Pai, I finished with a yoga class and I would love to find an other place where they gives these classes.

Going from Pai to Laos, always involves a full day in the bus and then there are  options. Either taking the slowboat wich takes 2 days or the speedboat which only takes 6 hours, but is ridicously dangerous. Not to upset anybody, I took the slowboat. The good thing was, I have been hearing so many stories about how boring and uncomfortable the thing was, it actually turned out much better than expected. I was expecting a row of wooden benches all packed next to each other. The boat is of course Laos style, meaning instead of 80 people, they pack it with 150 and once going to move 2! people from site because the boat is out of balance and of course sitting on the side is unsafe. But still it was fun, not to be seen as a alcoholic, but after a couple of drinks, everybody starts talking to everybody and times flies by.

Luang Prabang is the first stop in Laos. The french colonial influence is very clear here, the city site is like asia meeting france. Partywise, the bars close at 11.30pm with only the bowling open after that, no need to say that bowling is not the first priority.

Luang Prabang also has an amasing waterfall just 30 min outside the city. The big pool has a robe swing and who knew that was only preparing me for Vang Vieng.

Everybody going to Vang Vieng, goes tubbing down the river in a inner tube of a tractor. Along the river, plenty of bars who literally pull you out of the water. Every bar has robe swings and some are pretty scaring but lots of fun. The 2nd time, I went down the really big one (mom you might want to skip that photo once I get those...), it took a lot of courage and knee shaking but what a kick, the adrenaline is just rushing through your body afterwards. It is a bit like 3rd world disney land.

Further I liked Vang Vieng but had a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. In the evening, all the bars have these lights outside, seems a bit like Las Vegas and the association with Laos seems sometimes far gone.

So yesterday I took of to Vientiane, the capital of Laos and this evening I am already leaving on an other bus to the south (Pakse). It should take about 10 hours but there are stories of 16 hours. The roads in Laos are nothing compared to Thailand, everythings goes still a bit slower.