Hello, the writing is below, I really cant figure out how to work asian computers still....



One of the makeshift jumping towers at one of the makeshift bars on the river in Laos
Dave attracting a crowd on our biking trip

Our Laos guard with an AK-47 while our bus was very broken down

One of the rope swings along the river

floating...

kayaking in Laos...

biking in Laos

at the riverside bar in VV

typical scenery in Laos

the village we stayed in...I thought the sat dishes on the tin roof was pretty funny
The view over Luang Prabang from a temple on a hill

On the temple on the hill
the view over Luang Prabang
little girl in Luang Prabang
people tubing in Vang Vieng
ropeswing at Kouang Si waterfall in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang

Asiatic black bears at a refuge in Luang Prabang

below Kouang Si WAterfall
Kouang Si

on the boat in Vietnam

sunrise in Vietnam in Halong Bay
Paradise Island in Halong BAy
the raft to the boat in Halong Bay, shocking we made it.

So it's just about time to go home for a well-deserved, ok not really, rest. but i am a little travel weary after 7 months, and 11 overall, away from home.

The last week of the trip lived up to the hype as we had an amazing time in the wonderfully unpredictable, random, beautiful country of Laos. May I stress how unexpected and random everything is in Laos. I mean, this is a country where you get woken up from a nap by pigs walking on top of you. If that doesn't make sense, it shouldn't, it's Laos. We first spent 5 days in the UNESCO-listed city of Luang Prabang, which has approximately 30000 people and delicious baguettes (the French finally did something right) and is situated in the kind of the middleish north of the country.

Upon our arrival we quickly organized a mountain biking/kayaking trip with a tour company run by a guy from London, Ontario who is living the opposite of the D Fizz dream by being awkwardly married to a local who barely speaks English and having a very, very thick mom-from-Bobby's-World Canadian accent. He is having real problems dealing with the local cultural differences. for example, apparently there was a dead body awaiting us on the river, which absolutely no local would consider removing for karmic reasons. Understandably, the Canadian wanted to remove it, but his wife wouldn't let him do it for a)karma b)angry, angry Laos policemen with AK-47s who don't want to go remove bodies in the north.

The actual trip up north though was absolutely incredible, a definite highlight. Our slightly creepy tourguide organizes trips to a really remote area not visited by any other tourists. So we found ourselves mountain biking on roads in the middle of nowhere, being stared at openly by people who were genuinely shocked to see us (see the picture of Dave being stared at). We stopped for a water break in one little village and the entire population turned out to watch us. The scenery was gorgeous; Laos is incredibly green and untouched with amazing mountainous terrain. The second day we went kayaking in relatively tame class 2 and 3 rapids, except that we were in open kayaks that may as well have been hollow trees. It was also very hot, so we didn't try to hard to not tip ourselves. Unfortunately, on one half-km stretch of rapids, we overturned directly into a rock. This led to one incredibly painful experience bouncing down rapids in 2 foot deep water, with no paddles and no kayak. We were especially uncomfortable because our Laotian guide, Syvong, had told us right before we tipped that the aforementioned dead body was " around here somewhere" and we were certain it was going to pop up somewhere as we were getting eviscerated by the rocks. Eventually, we were disentangled from the trees we were wedged against in the middle of the river and rescued by Syvong.

Syvong was an awesome guy by the way, but his command of Engrish wasn't too good. Dave asked him how the people in the village we stayed in choose their chief: "The people choose chief by erection." "Oh."

From Luang Prabang we got a night bus to the river town of Vang Vieng, legendary among travelers for its makeshift riverside bars and ubiquitous love of Friends. The busride was one hell of an experience itself. About an hour into the trip, we stopped in the middle of nowhere. Now, did you know that there is a civil war going on in Laos? And did you also know that Laos is among the most heavily bombed nations in the world? Thanks to the United States (this seems to be a common theme) Laos has an extraordinary amount of unexploded ordanance dotting its landscape as yet another legacy of the Vietnam War. So, we weren't allowed to walk off the road because of unexploded bombs and angry Laos guerrillas. We also had a couple of guys guarding the bus with AK-47s for the 3 hours we were stopped. There was a guy on our bus who used to fix tanks in the Israeli army, and he pronounced us "absolutely fucked" when he looked at what they were fixing with only a hammer and a screwdriver. However, they seemed to get it working, and we were off. Unfortunately, while we were waiting I had given my seat to a young mother who didn't have one, and she was even more unfortunately unforthcoming with an offer to give it back. So I spent that incredibly terrifying bus ride, on the semi-fixed rear axle, through the mountains sleeping in the aisle and watching the bus driver negotiate the 1.5 lane-wide road with, no joke, half a metre of visibility. I have never been so scared. And apparently, neither has the baby, because at that point it shit its pants. sigh.

Anyways, the bus ride was worth it to make it to Vang Vieng. VV is a town that isn't really noted for its cultural experiences, but more as a place where the Irish flock en masse to float down a river while drinking heavily and playing Irish volleyball, which, like coffee, is much better when exported from that fine nation. We spent 4 days floating down the river, stopping off at the 9 makeshift bars for a few beers and swinging off the hilarious ropeswings fashioned along the way. What an amazing place to finish off our trip. The town and river are surrounded by limestone cliffs, the river is gorgeous and did i mention that there are hundreds of extremely drunk Irish people swinging off of trees? I highly recommend it.

And so, we are now in Bangkok winding things down and doing some serious shopping for low-quality clothing and electronics. Flying home tomorrow and really looking forward to it. Talk soon...