VV to Vientiane to Khao Lak Day 25 & 26

Hi all,
Jeremy was going to write these posts but I managed to do them when he was sick just before he ended up in hospital :( At least he is better now so hopefully he will be blogging again soon!
Also as another aside I have managed to delete all our daily summaries off the iPad which means we have to write them from memory, so please bear with us for the remaining posts - thats if anyone is still reading :)

So after the craziness that is tubing in Vang Vieng I wake up early feeling awful. After my 4th trip to the bathroom I realise its more than just a hangover and that I have picked up what Jeremy and I have dubbed the Laos tummy.
Great stuff, I have the 3 hour journey to Vientiane to look forward to!
Anyway we go back to sleep until the last possible minute before we have to leave. We had decided to give the 'VIP' bus a try and I'm so glad we did. We had aircon the whole way and the road is a lot straighter than our last journey so all in all I managed :)
We get to Vientiane and all I can think of is sleeping, so Jeremy finds us a hotel, Douang Deuane and I have a bit of a nap. Eventually I start feeling a bit better so we go for a bit of a walk around. We eventually get a take away pizza from across the street from the hotel, and it is surprisingly good. I have a couple of pieces and decide to call it a day. Jeremy heads off to an internet cafe to do some catching up and then it early to bed for us.
The next morning we are up bright and early to start our day long travelling to Khao Lak. After weighing up the options we had decided to fly from Vientiane to Bangkok rather than the overnight train,and given the way I was feeling it was definitely the right choice.
We flew Laos airlines and they were actually pretty good. The plane was brand new and we got some snacks on board which is a change from the likes of air asia!
Anyway we get to bangkok with 5 hours to kill so we decide what better way to kill time in Thailand than by having a massage. So half an hour and a back massage later Jeremy and I are feeling a lot more relaxed and ready to take on the next leg of the trip.
We eventually arrive in Phuket after a pretty smooth flight with Air Asia,with some great scenery. After debating another hour or so wait for the bus we decide that the 1800baht for the taxi is probably worth it. So after 1h30min drive we eventually arrive in Khao Lak. Woohoo!
For those of you that don't know we actually decided on Khao lak because Philip and Estie, some friends of ours from South Africa, told us at the wedding that they will be there in April. We realised that it was possible for us to join them so we thought why not? I'm so glad we did. The Haadson Resort where we stayed was just great. It's about the only resort on the stretch of beach and there only about 4 restaurants on the beach too. Great for getting away from it all.
The resort itself is great, really nice attention to detail, and they upgraded us to a villa which was amazing. Very spacious, and it had a really nice balcony,which I used to do some yoga on a couple of mornings which was pretty amazing- wish I could always do my yoga in that setting.
Anyway after a swim in the pool we have a bit of a nap and then decide to check out the hotel restaurant for dinner as we just can't be bothered to look for anywhere else... The food was really good, Jeremy had the green curry (which you will come to realise is his go-to thai meal) and I had a noodle dish with wide flat rice noodles that was just delicious.
After dinner Philip, Estie, little Reece and Philips parents arrive back from their dinner in Khao Lak town and Philip joined us for a beer.
We chat about what we've been up to, and tell him some of our crazy stories and then its early night for us!




Signpost in Vientiane - although I'm pretty sure CPT is more than 1058km away :)




Beautiful scenery from the plane window




Swans on the bed for the Newlyweds- Haadson Resort




Dinner :)

Vang vieng tubing day 24

We thought it would be wise to start the day with a big brekkie, so we headed down to a restaurant for some food and some friends. After spending far too long watching friends we eventually make our way to the start.
You basically pick up your tubes from the town center, there is one shop that hires everyone tubes, and they then take you on a tuk tuk up the river to the start of the tubing.
We get our tubes and hop on the back of the tuk tuk not quite knowing what to expect.
A couple of things to note about the tubing. Everyone who does the tubing in Vang Vieng has a 'uniform' - Tubing in the vang vieng swimming shorts, tshirts and ray bans. And after the day is done you will add some wristbands to your collection, one for every bar and lao lao shot you drink. Every where you go in SE asia people are wearing these with pride, and it just adds to the craziness of the place.
For those of you that didn't see it there is a pretty interesting article here about the danger of the tubing, and Jeremy and I made a pact before we started that we wouldn't jump off any platforms or swing off any ropes, especially as it was dry season and I don't want to die just yet thank you.
Even still its amazing what dutch (Laos) courage you get after a couple of shots of whisky,but luckily neither of us broke the pact.
http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/07/vang-vieng-laos-party-town?cat=world&type=article
Anyway we get to the start, and the only way to get to the river is through the 1st bar. So its a shot of Lao Lao whisky and then we decide to get a beer and relax before we get going. We meet 3 Aussie girls that are travelling for a few weeks around Thailand and Laos and 2 english girls that are also travelling SE Asia. We end up spending way too long at the first bar with them just chatting and drinking, so eventually all of us decide to make our way to the second bar.
You basically grab your tube and just hop into the river and float down using the river stream (with some paddling too) Then when you are ready to be pulled in you put up your hand and someone will throw you a rope and pull you in. Simple really :)
Anyway the second bar is pretty cool and another shot down, Jeremy and I get involved in a beer pong game, and lose, but only by a little.
After all that beer we decide to get a bucket, which is great. We meet some more people and play some drinking games with the girls and some other people we meet.
We realise that if we want to get back in time to avoid the penalty on the tubes we better start heading down river. We end up at the third bar which is pretty dead to be honest. Another shot and another bracelet.... This bar has an added bonus - flying ants! So after being bitten a couple of times Jeremy and I decide to start making our way down the river to the end. We say goodbye to the girls with plans to meet them at the end and hop onto our tubes. Jeremy manages to leave behind his tshirt, and about 2mins later manages to drop his Oakleys in the river, never to be seen again, but I think one to many shots means we don't really worry about this until the next day!
Anyway we start making our way downriver, in some parts the river is hardly flowing and we have to paddle,and in others it is so shallow you almost scrape your butt on the rocks. But the scenery is amazing, I have quite a few 'can't believe I'm here' moments on the way down!
We make it about half way when Jeremy decides enough is enough and manages to barter with a local fisherman to take us on his boat the rest of the way. Although I wasn't very happy with him in the beginning, I realise now that it was definitely the best decision cos it was getting dark quickly! We make it back with minutes to spare before they close.
We head back to the hotel, send some drunken texts to Jarrod and Stacey (who have both done VV before), sorry guys :) And then decide its time for food before we go out to party.
Haha,after the food all either of us can think of is sleep,so we head back to the hotel and pass out. Great fun!




At the start




Beer pong -first bar...still pretty empty




Drinking games!



Me, Jem and a random 'let me take the pic I have long arms' guy




Flying ants!




Floating down the river