Money, Money, Money

Tuesday 18^th January 2010

MP3 track of the day: Money, Money, Money – ABBA

Weather: Another beautiful day in Louang Phabang

I didn't sleep that well last night … I don't know why, maybe because I went to bed early and I didn't really need the sleep. Anyway I was up for 7:30am. Once ready I picked up a bag, full of all my souvenirs, and headed to the local post office. My guidebook stated that the postal service within Laos wasn't the best, however with over 2kg's of stuff, I couldn't really carry it around with me (and will Cambodia's postal service be any better?).

Once at the post office a guy packed my stuff for me; he did such a good job that I was confident, as long as my parcel didn't go walkies, that it should make it back to Blightly in one piece. As I mentioned above the weight was over 2Kg's and so it cost me – wait for it – 325,000 kip to send 280,750 kips worth of stuff by sea mail, which would take two months (I wasn't sure about the time; normally sea mail takes three months, don't know why Laos is any quicker). In Pound Stirling it cost me £26.00 to send £22.50 worth of stuff … it maybe expensive but at least I got rid of a lot of weight.

I went back to my hostel, stopping on the way for breakfast, to pick up some more money and exchange bags. I then went to the river front to do my final bit of sightseeing within Louang Phabang. On the other side of the 'Nam Khan river' there was a small village which I was told was worth visiting. To get there I had to pay 4,000 kip (33p) to cross a bamboo bridge, which was amazingly strong and sturdy. Once on the other side of the river I headed up some steps, through a small wood, to emerge within the village. The village was actually pretty big; I had entered at a 'T-shape' junction and so I headed left first before turning around and heading right. The village was okay, not massively interesting however the amount of infrastructure improvements where staggering. The entire road network was being replaced and older buildings where being torn down to be replaced by new. I did wonder, as there where quite a few guesthouses here, if it was the positive impact of tourism, or if it was down to the Chinese pouring money into Laos, that was responsible for all the improvements … maybe a combination of the two.

Also, as I walked up and down the streets I did noticed the French colonization impact on the housing architecture. Personally I feel that, after seeing dwellings within Malaysia and Thailand, that this is another positive impact on Laos as the houses here seem to be of a better standard than in it's neighboring South East Asian countries. After forty minutes of looking around I went back to the bamboo bridge; before crossing I spent another ten minutes walking along the small beach, taking a couple of photos, before making it back to the mainland of Louang Phabang.

I had now finished all of the sightseeing that I wanted to do within Louang Phabang and because of that I have decided to move on tomorrow. Louang Phabang is a nice town to chill in however, apart from the white temple and the night market, it's tourist attractions are somewhat lacking. I walked along the main street of town and went in every tourist office possible to get the best price for a mini-van to Phonsavan. What I lack in comfort, within the mini-van, I gain in less traveling time and, I think, additional safety. The roads in Laos aren't very good and, as I shall be traveling through the mountains, I really don't fancy boarding a huge vehicle. The mini-van takes seven hours to arrive at Phonsavan whereas the bus takes eight and the mini-van can drop me off in the middle of town, near all the guesthouses (I hope), whereas the bus will drop me off probably at a out of town bus station. Last night I looked at trying to pre-book accommodation, within Phonsavan, on the internet but alas it looks like I shall be turning up in another town without anywhere booked. Things went okay in Chang-Rai however this is slightly different kettle of fish. Firstly, whereas Chang-Rai was only three hours from Chang-Mai, Phonsavan is seven hours from Louang Phebang and so there is no way that, if I can't find anywhere to stay, I could get a bus back within the same day to Louang Phebang (not only is the time of travel a problem but I think that there is only one bus per day). Finally I also have a feeling that there might not be any dorms within Phonsavan and so it might cost me more for accommodation than in other places; however I do want to see these 'Plains of Jars' and, being a UESCO world heritage site, I'm guessing that there should be loads of places to stay. To limit the financial pain I may make a quick two night stop there (arrive first night, visit the Plain of Jars the second night and then leave to Vang Viang). It all depends on what I find there.

I came back to my hostel to prepare to leave tomorrow. I packed my bags, tried to find a map of the city of Phonsavan on the internet (got one but it isn't great) and 'google searched' for more Phonsavan accommodation before heading out to purchase some snacks for the journey. Whilst I was out I printed off the map I had found before purchasing two packet of biscuits and a packet of crisps for the journey. I was pretty starving and so I also purchased a chicken kebab that had just been taken off the fire (so I was pretty sure that it was safe). I didn't have anything else to do and so, once again, I went on the internet to research Phonsavan a little more. 'Spicylao' is okay however currently it's just been full of Americans saying 'awesome' (and one American has the most annoying laughs) all the time so it goes without saying that it's time to leave.

Having enough of the Americans I went out to have one more look at the night market (dunno why as I wasn't going to buy anything … kill time maybe) before having my final meal. I returned to my Hostel around 7:30pm, went on the internet (AGAIN) before getting ready for an early night. So here we are, my final night within Louang Phebang and I'm in my dorm at 8pm reading my book. Including accommodation I have spent over 600,000 kip today and so another bank visit will be needed soon. I'm glad to be moving on tomorrow and I'm looking forward to 'The Plain of Jars' … not looking forward to the journey or the potential cost though.

Toodle Pip!

Wat tastic

Monday 17^th January 2011

MP3 track of the day: Illuminati -Fat Boy Slim

Weather: With no clouds in the sky the sun has been beating down all day making it very hot, much hotter than any other day here.

Due to going to sleep at 9pm the previous night I was up around 7am this morning and, after updating my blog etc, I was out for 10am. I haven't really seen any of the town so far and so, without anymore distractions, I set to checking out all the temples ('Wat's') located within Louang Phabang. I grabbed 'breakfast to go', which consisted of two cakes (A lemon cake and a pineapple cake … the lemon is my favorite) and a bottle of water. I decided to head to the most impressive temple -according to my guidebook – first which was called 'Wat Xiang Thong'. This temple was at the opposite end of town to my accommodation and so it took me quite a while to reach it. On my way I stopped at 'Wat That' again to find a window that, according to my guidebook, is “...perhaps the most photographed window within Louang Phabang...”. I still couldn't find it.

'Wat Xiang Thong' is a world heritage site and being so meant that the Lao people could make money out of it. 20,000 kip (£1.70) later I was past the ticket office and into the complex. My guidebook stated that “...unlike nearly every other temple in Louang Phabang, it was neither razed by Chinese marauders nor over-enthusiastically restored...”. It certainly looked old, and was quite pretty, however I much preferred another temple within town. I didn't spend long there as I had another seventeen - yes seventeen - temples to visit. I won't bore you with the details of each temple however below is a list – in order of viewing – of the temples that I have seen today:

• Wat Xiang Thong

• Wat Khili

• Wat Sop

• Wat Saen

• Wat Pa Khe

• Wat Mai

• Wat Choum Khong

• Wat Xiang Mouan

• Wat Nong

• Wat Pa Phai

• Wat Aphal

• Wat Aham

• Wat Viscoun

• Wat Manolom

• Wat That Louang

• Wat Pa Houak

• Wat That Chomsi

• Wat Pha Phoutthabat

Apart from 'Wat Viscoun' all the other temple sites followed the same architectural pattern of one main building with a tower erected close by. I didn't go inside any of the temples – apart from 'Wat Xiang Thong' – as I couldn't face taking my shoes off seventeen times in one day. It didn't take me long to see the outside of each temple; in fact as I got down the list the temples got quicker and quicker to see. Three from the end of the list and I was pretty templed out.

It was now 1pm and before visiting the last three temples I went in search of an ATM. I had changed £40.00 worth of Baht into Kip and besides paying for accommodation that money has lasted me five days … which is pretty impressive (and I still had £15.00 worth of kip left). However the good times can't last forever and tonight I want to visit the night market to get my Laos souvenirs, plus a few lanterns, before posting a parcel off tomorrow so additional money would be required.

The first three ATM's didn't accept my 'Plus' card. I was starting to get a little worried that I would have to withdraw money off my credit card until I eventually found an ATM that accepted my card. I withdrew one million kip (£80.00) which, annoyingly, was the maximum that I could take out in one withdrawal. Fortunately the ATM didn't charge me for it's usage. I made it back to my hostel to separate said money into different places on my person and my bag; the cleaners where within my dorm at the time and so I had to be discreet. Once done I headed back towards town. It was only 3pm and I had done everything that I had planned for the day; I therefore decided to move onto tomorrows activities which included climbing 'Phou Si'.

'Phou Si' is a small hill located within Louang Phabang; it's Louang's spiritual, and geographical, center and costs 20,000 kip (£1.70) to climb up. Now being a hot day climbing a hill might not be seen to be the wisest move, however the staircase up was pretty shaded. Once on top of the hill the temples where okay, however the view was more impressive. I could see all of Louang Phabang, the Mekong River and, on the opposite side to the river, I could see the mountains of Laos. The view was pretty impressive. On my way down I followed the signs to see the 'Buddha's footprint' located at the northern end of the hill. It took a good fifteen minutes to get there and it was about as enlightening as being hit continuously by a house brick.

At 4pm I made it down the hill and headed back to my hostel to chill before the night market opened. At around 7pm I was in the heart of the market looking for fabric souvenirs and four lanterns. The fabric souvenirs – which I thought would be the hardest to purchase as I wasn't sure what I wanted exactly – didn't take me long to purchase and soon I ended up with a piece of cloth, used as a table center piece, and a lovely pair of babies shoes (hand made … I think). It cost me 35,000 kip for the cloth and another 13,000 kip for the shoes so, in total, I spent around £4. Next I went to the spot were the lantern stall was yesterday only to find that it wasn't there tonight. I double checked to see if I had missed it but no, it wasn't there. I looked around the rest of the market, to see if he had moved to a better location, only to find another stall selling the same product. After a bit of bartering I ended up with two large, but nicely wrapped, parcels containing four lanterns (two white and two red … not sure if red was the best choice) for 150,000 kip (£12.00 … £3.00 each) which I didn't think was too bad. Looking at my £16.00 worth of purchases I worried about how much the postage was going to cost (considering I also had a Thai cook book, a photo book, a Buddha and a Santa hat to post home) however that was for another day and so I headed to the food stalls to get something cheap for tea. I sat down and eat the same soup as yesterday; whilst eating I chatted to three Aussie guys who seemed very nice indeed. Tomorrow they are coming to check into Spicy which will b good as my other Aussie friends checked out today. Once I had finished eating I headed back to my hostel.

The only thing left in Louang Phabang, that I want to see, is across the 'Nam Khan River'.; There's a bamboo bridge (which costs 5,000 kip to cross) that leads to a local village … which sounds pretty good. This shouldn't take me all day and so after this I need to decided whether to head to Phonsavan on Wednesday or stay another day here and travel to Phonsavan on Thursday instead. I will have to look around town and try to get the best deal on transport and then go onto the internet to see if I can find some accommodation in Phonsavan, which is going to be pretty time consuming. I wish things where as easy here as they where in other countries that I have visited.

Toodle Pip!

Waiting, waiting and more waiting

Sunday 16^th January 2011

MP3 track of the day: Jessie paints a picture - Joshua Kadison

Weather: Pretty cold, cloudy though no rain

I was up, ready and waiting at our meeting point at 10am … unfortunately not many of the others were. The two Fabera's were having breakfast, Mike was having a shower and the two from the 'Isle of White' weren't even up yet. To cut a long story short it was another two hours before everyone was downstairs and ready to go … I was pretty annoyed having wasted two hours of my life just waiting for others. Actually I didn't spend the whole time waiting, I took a few photos of the French-colonial style buildings that surrounded me, had a look at a pretty impressive temple and checked the local tour offices for a day trip to the 'Plan of Jars'. The up-shot is that the 'Plain of Jars' are just too far away for a day trip. I either need to do a two/three day tour or get a bus there. I wasn't really happy with either solution however the bus sounded like the best, and cheapest, option so it looks like I shall be spending a couple of days in Phonsavan, the nearest city to the 'Plain of Jars'.

Finally, at 12pm, we were all ready and we hired ourselves a truck thing, and a driver, for 190,000 kip (£15) to drive us to the waterfalls, wait for us, and then drive us back into town. The original plan was to see some caves and the waterfalls today however, due to our late start, we didn't have the daylight left to do both. As the truck was open sided smoking was allowed; we had devised a seating plan where the non-smokers got in first. The theory was that, as we drove along, the smokers could light up near the rear of the vehicle and the smoke would exit straight away meaning that I wouldn't, yet again, have to put up with a cloud of smoke in my face … it worked, but not brilliantly. The ride wasn't as bad as I was expecting, there were very few potholes – though there were a few dodgy wooden bridges – and time passed quickly due to us all chatting away. It was a pretty cold ride and I couldn't believe how many cigarettes people smoked; one after the other went into peoples mouths and it made me think why was such a disgusting habit was socially acceptable … spitting or breaking wind aren't and yet I find these two less of a health risk.

We eventually made it to a make-shift car park surrounded by food and tourist shops. It cost 20,000 kip (£1.60) to enter the waterfalls which we all paid. First thing we found was a bear enclosure, about a five minute walk from the entrance. I don't like seeing animals enclosed however this was a bear sanctuary. Within South East Asia a bears boil is used in traditional medicines which results in bears being put in cages, only just big enough for them to curl up into, and periodically injected with large needles to extract this liquid. Now there are alternatives on the market however this barbaric, and very painful, process still occurs and this sanctuary has rescued these bears and put them within this large fenced off area to protect them … it's not the perfect solution but I suppose it's better than the alternative.

We took a couple of photos before walking a further five minutes to the start of the waterfalls. One huge waterfall, and four smaller ones with pools, stretched along a ten minute walking route. The first and fourth small waterfall with pool could not be used for swimming however the other two could. It wasn't the waterfalls themselves which were interesting (I've seen much nice ones within Derbyshire) it was the water. Either crystal clear, or a very rich light blue, the water here was the cleanest that I have seen within South East Asia which lead to the group asking the question of 'why' … which was never fully answered.

The first pool was quite picturesque with the waterfall in the background and a beautiful light blue pool in front. I sat down to get my camera out to take a few shots however, before I realized it, the others were off as there wasn't any swimming … which was nice of them. The second pool was much larger than the first and it had an overhanging tree, which you could walk up, with a piece of rope attached that you could use as a rope swing. We spent ages watching young people climbing this tree and then swinging into the water below. Now I was wearing my coat at the time and so there was no way that I was going to follow other tourists plunging themselves into, what must be, the freezing waters below (plus this is Laos' dry season so I didn't know how deep the pool was). Mike, the American guy with us, was up for it and so he got changed and went in; the others, including I, waited around taking photos and chatting to others whilst watching people swing themselves into the pool (some with more grace than others). I didn't mind waiting for Mike as, out of the group, I think I liked his attitude the most and after four or five swings we were all ready to move on again.

The next pool was more picturesque than the first however, yet again, the group moved onto the main waterfall as no swimming was allowed here. This left me to photograph the area which included a massive spider just chilling on her web. I then made it to the main waterfall but instead of re-joining the group I went in search of the best photographing spots and shot away. I eventually caught up with the rest of them on a small pathway as close to the main waterfall as possible; again the falls were nice but not massively impressive.

Finally three of the guys wanted to climb as high as they could – hopefully walking over the top of the waterfall – using a set of steps to the left of the falls. I was pretty tired at this point and so I, and the rest of the group, headed out of the park to meet the guys back at the truck. We walked quite slowly, stopping occasionally along the way, before we reached the entrance. I met the couple from Essex - who were still alive - and they were having a great time. We all had a spot of lunch at the local stalls around us before getting on the truck and heading back to Louang Phabang.

The driver took us a different way back to the way we had come. Again the truck soon filled up with smoke and I reckon sticking my mouth around the trucks exhaust would have been better for my health. We were back in town at around 4:30pm and we decided to meet up, near the night market, at around 7:30pm. Not wanting to waste more of my day waiting I went back to my guesthouse to internet myself up. I was particularly glad to see that my Japanese parcel had made it home and that my younger brother had just achieved great grades for two modules at university … well done to him.

Yet again I had quite a lot to do and at 7:30pm I still wasn't finished. Due to the groups amazing record of being ready on time I decided to continue my work and I eventually left my hostel around 8pm making it to our meeting point at 8:15pm … forty-five minutes late. I waited around for a while but no one was there; I checked out the food market (and had tea at the same time) but again no one was around. I decided to have a look in the bar we were at yesterday and again the same story as above. Now I wasn't really that bothered, the last two days had been okay but pretty annoying (and I was looking forward to being on my own again) however the rest of the group were moving on tomorrow and so it would have been nice to say goodbye.

At 9:15pm I gave up looking, headed back to my hostel, and feel asleep almost immediately … I must have been pretty tired. Tomorrow the real sightseeing starts.

Toodle Pip!

Sorting myself out

Saturday 15^th January 2011

MP3 track of the day: Ticket to ride - The Beatles

Weather: Lovely, not too hot at all

Due to having a late night last night I got up around 10:30am. My plan for the day was to do some serious internet surfing starting with updating my blog, then uploading my photos from the boat trip and finally checking upon the world outside Laos. I knew that the above would take quite a while and so I headed out into town to pick up breakfast before I started. It was first time that I had seen Louang Phabang in the day light and, overall, it's not too bad. Two things that I immediately noticed was that the Lao people drive on the right-hand side of the road (first country that I have visited this trip that drives on the right) and that there are loads of Russian flags flying, probably due to the communist tie between the two nations.

'SpicyLaos' is only a ten minute walk from town and so I was soon at one of the many bakeries ordering an orange cake and a banana cake to bring back to the hostel. I met my friends in town and told them of my intention for the day, and so we decided to meet up around 7:30pm for food and drinks.

It was midday by the time I sat down, with my netbook, doing all the things that I needed to do. I had some annoying American girl - with her annoying accent saying that everything is 'awesome' – next to me playing her rubbish music … luckily she wasn't around for to long. The hours flew by and, due to me having plenty of time within Laos I wasn't too bothered that my day was slipping away. It was 5:30pm when I sat back and realized that all was well with the internet world. I had two hours to kill before meeting up with the others and so I went out to see a local temple. 'Wat That' is located a block north-west away from my hostel and fortunately the architecture is a little different to that of the Thai temples. I spent a little while photographing the temple before moving onto the night market to have a look for souvenirs.

Before I could look for any souvenirs I met up with the others within the market; we went for a small snack before deciding that we all wanted to have a look around the night market. We set a time to meet up after. Under these huge gazebos (which where not high enough for me to walk up straight) there were many stalls selling all sorts of souvenirs and clothes. The two Fabera's were interested in a few new pairs of trousers whereas I was looking for my 'Laos souvenir'. I had already decided that, currently, I had bought too many wooden souvenirs and so I narrowed my search down to fabric items only. I found a lovely pair of toddlers shoes, a couple of scarves and some fabric place mats … a little bit of thinking time was needed me thinks. I also noticed a guy selling lanterns that I have seen being sold within Malaysia and Thailand; they are a rectangle shape with wood making the frame. The sides are covered with coloured paper with patterns made from wood covering parts of the paper; a light is positioned within the lantern and therefore coloured light is projected outwards. I love these lanterns and I'm thinking of purchasing four (2x white and 2x Orange) for my flat within New Zealand ... that I will one day purchase. Best of all they flat pack so posting them home wouldn't be a problem, thought it could be quite expensive … again a think was needed.

I met up with the group again and we headed to a restaurant for something to eat. I tried a traditional Lao dish combined with Lao spring rolls … I wasn't impressed with either. The two Fabera's went to sleep as one was tired and the other had a major cold (it was lovely when she was sat to the right of me, blowing her nose, as I was trying to eat); the rest of us, on the other hand, found this bar called 'Lao Lao'. Up a steep driveway the bar had a few tables and chairs dotted around; it was nice and quite, though the owner was so gay it was untrue, and the guys set to with some drinking games. What followed was extremely funny to watch; first of all they played a card game which resulted in 'Dom' drinking two bottles of beer. Next was a guessing game followed by an aiming game and, considering most where pretty drunk at this time, the aiming wasn't too great. I enjoyed myself a lot however, with the continual cloud of smoke blowing into my face, it was starting to become some-what annoying and so, at 11:30pm, I made my excuses and headed for home.

The plan for tomorrow was to meet up at 10am and head out to some waterfalls, which are meant to be very beautiful. I was therefore glad that my head hit my pillow at midnight and even more glad that my room seemed to be a lot warmer tonight; however, at around 2am, the room was bitterly cold and so I put on my winter clothing (which consisted of a fleece, a pair of trousers and a pair of wooly socks) and went back to bed … I was then as snug as a bug in a rug.

Toodle Pip!

Clubs, smoking and cold rooms

Friday 14^th January 2011

MP3 track of the day: In the end - Linkin Park

Weather: More blue skies with fluffy white clouds

Waking up on time I was just looking forward to getting back on the boat. I had this panic attack that I would miss the boat and be stranded here, in Pakbeng, for another day, if not longer. I was ready before either Fabera, or the French dude, where even up; I decided to head out of the room and see who was sitting having breakfast. As I went down to the restaurant only the other Fabera was as worried as I and seemed to be ready to go. She had just ordered a pancake for breakfast and therefore I did the same … sugar and lemon, lovely. We sat overlooking the Mekong and it looked lovely, I therefore took a couple of snaps before my breakfast arrived.

The others joined us about forty minutes later and they too sat down for breakfast; we were all ready to leave around 8:30am. As we walked down to where the boat was moored I was not looking forward to climbing down those rocks with all my stuff … going up is one thing but descending is totally different and I was feeling ill just at the thought. Luckily, when I arrived, we where getting on a different boat which was moored next to a set of steps (which made me wonder why we couldn't have used said steps last night).

This boat was the same length, and design, as yesterdays boat however what it gained in more comfortable seats it lost in space as there weren't any tables (just rows of seats like on a bus) and neither was there an area to stretch out at in the back. Fabera, Matt, Fabera 2, Mike and I all sat near the front. Instead of our seats facing forwards, like every other set of seats on the boat, ours face inwards meaning that our feet where in the isle. This gave us a little more leg room but not a lot.

It was nice to see that both Mike and Matt where feeling a lot better and so we chatted for a little while before we started to play cards. Yet again Yaneeve was chosen and so I had to teach it to Matt, Mike and Fabera 2, which wasn't difficult. To make things interesting Matt announced a little bet; the looser of each round (which can be as many as fifteen games) would buy the others a drink once in Louang Phabang. Matt then immediately lost the first round.

We played for the entire trip. We did have breaks where we walked around the boat for a while, took photos and a lot of the others smoked but mostly we played cards … and everyone got quite good. The only annoying thing was that, due to where our seats where, we had to make a table within the middle of the isle and dismantle it each time someone wanted to walk past … which was quite often (especially this Spanish bloke, he got quite annoying). After three rounds I had a drink waiting from Matt, Mike and Fabera 2 in Louang Phabang. We changed players after three rounds to let the two from the 'Isle of White' play; we didn't finish the game as we ran out of time. The only thing I remember from that game was the smoke; the two people from the isle of white, Matt and Fabera all smoked and no matter where I sat I seemed to always get smoke in my face.

We arrived at Louang Phabang around 5pm. Getting off the boat was much easier than in Pakbeng however I was still surrounded by people trying to get me to stay at their guesthouse; I also had one guy trying to sell me weed as an alternative to accommodation, which was interesting. I let the rest of the group know that I had booked into 'SpicyLao'; the others weren't really that interested and so, after ages waiting for them to decide what they where going to do, I left the harbor front, on foot and on my own, and headed to my accommodation arranging to meet back at the harbor around 7:30pm.

I arrived at 'SpicyLao' to find a pool table, table tennis table and a flood-lit badminton court all outside. Travelers where outside either using the above facilities or having a drink and a chat … all looked promising. I was then shown to my dorm; it was clean but it wasn't half cold. The stone floor and the fact it only had a sheet of cloth as a door didn't help with the warmth aspect and so I asked some people who had stayed here the previous night … they said it was pretty cold at night.

I looked at my bed to see a pretty good, and new looking, blanket. Most other people had sleeping bags, which I was a little jealous of; memories of the cold nights from the 'The Cameron Highlands' came flooding back … I hoped that it wouldn't be that bad as I plan to stay here quite a while. I sat down on my bed (the mattress basically gave into my weight as it sucked me down onto the wooden board beneath, however once I lied on the mattress all way okay) to view my options. 'SpicyLaos' seemed a fun place to be … near enough to the center of town, good facilities and the showers where lovely and hot. The bad thing was that the room might be freezing at night, through that does mean very little chance of mosquitoes. I decided to give it a whirl.

As I took my netbook up to the common room, to see if I had any word from Matt and Rachael, who should walk in but both the Fabera's. Apparently they looked at a guesthouse but didn't like it and so they checked in here. Also, at the same time, the two young Aussies and two young German girls from the boat checked in too … 'SpicyLaos' was starting to look even better I thought.

It was getting close to 7:30pm and so Fabera, Faber 2 and I headed out to meet the others at the harbor. There was a group of eleven of us and once at the harbor we headed to the night market, which was vast, but little food could be found apart from cake (which is not a bad thing you understand). Whilst we stood in a big undecided group Matt and I ventured back into the market to investigate further. Down a small alleyway we found all the food stalls however I was a little concerned to find that all food displayed was in the open air looking like it had already been pre-cooked. We ventured back to our group to explain our findings however it had seemed that a restaurant had already been decided upon and so we walked out of the market.

After about ten minutes of walking more indecision fell upon the group as all where hungry and no restaurant had been found. We then decided to venture back to said food market and eat there. What I hadn't noticed previously about the food market was that, sure you pick the food from plates that are left out uncovered, but then the lady behind the stall cooks it for you. I was much happier. Being my first meal in Laos I decided to go vegetarian and I had a plate of vegetables and noodles which cost 8,000 kip (60p) and was served piping hot.

The food was okay however there was a lot of smoke floating around from my 'smoking' friends, which was a little unpleasant. For pudding I stopped to pick up a cake, which was edible; we then walked twenty minutes to a pub, recommended by the lonely planet, called 'Utopia'. The pub was basically a large garden with stone seats and tables; it was very atmospheric, if a little too dark, and yet again I seemed to have a cloud of smoke in my face. As the group had bumbled around town for so long we only had time for one, or two, drinks. You see in Laos it's law for all pubs and clubs (bar very few exceptions) to close at 11pm. Not satisfied with 11pm closing time we asked a truck driver if he knew of anywhere that stayed open late; 60,000kip (£5) between eleven friends later and we had arrived at a club.

Now I'm not really a club person and, considering this club was playing bad-techno music (is there any other?) so loud that your ears would bleed, I would have preferred to gnaw my arm off than spend another minute in there. The floor was sticky and had broken glass bottles lying around and all-in-all I wasn't really in the mood. However, it was quite an interesting place as a lot of local Lao people where there having a good time. Luckily for me the club closed at 1am and so we all headed back to our own accommodation, using the same truck as before, where I went straight to sleep at 1:30am. The room was freezing and so I basically slept with all my clothes on and I used my coat as another layer over my blanked; I made a deal that tomorrow I shall get my fleece and my 'sheet sleeping bag' out of my bag to try to add further warmth. I couldn't do it now, it was to dark and to late so I would just have to put up with the cold. Just before going to sleep I smelt my clothes … they smelt like smoke.

Toodle Pip!