Everyone left today. Cyril, Ozzie, Noriko and Jamie all went separate ways. Each one asked me to come. What did i decide to do? Stay. I made the decision to stay one more day for a bit of alone time during the day and figure where I really wanted to go. I could meet up with Noriko in Phonsavan, Ozzie in Nong Kiew, Cyril and 90% of the others from my boat in Vang Vieng or Jamie in pffff, can’t remember where shes going.

Decided to stay and clear my head. Strolled around the town and instead of being on my own, I met Jay from Thailand. Cool to see him again and we decided that it would probably be better to go to Vang Vieng for my birthday. Just in the Internet cafe after booking my ticket down now. Good ole local bus! Jay me, two Canadian girls, an Australian girl and two Israelis who I met last night are all going together. Should be fun. Really looking forward to the tubing there. Supposed to be EXCELLENT.

Needed a relax after last night. everyone went to hive bar again (The latest opening place here) and I met , literally, a boatload of people who just arrived that day. Really nice people from all over the world. Also met an Irish guy from Artiness (Who knows Joe Connon) and two from “Dunnee caaaarrrrnnnneeee” that I met in Spicy in Chiang Mai.Met lots and lots of lovely Laos people too. I am still having trouble coming to terms with how friendly the people here are. After it closed, a local told the whole pub that there was a party back in his. So everyone followed him. MY GOD, It was CRAZY. I wrote in the forum already, but it was like a party in an American teen college movie. Literally HUNDREDS of people in the house/cafe thing. Everyone just got drunk, talked , and chilled out in the biggest “Cushion room” I have ever seen. THOUSANDS of cushions and beanbags! My kinda party. Learned more Loas (Great how similar it is to Thai) and had a nice refreshing night and met lots of new people. Great to share stories with people. Sorry to repeat myself, but its so nice to be able to give people advice on Cambodia and Vietnam because most people are heading that way now.

Laos is so refreshing for a HUGE reason other than the spectacular scenery. It is illegal for a foreigner to be with a local here. Its so strictly enforced that if it happens, the local gets locked up for 7 years and the foreigner gets deported. Its true, if you don’t believe me, do your own research. As a result, theres no lady bars, no prostitution and no hassle from women to “Hey handsome man, come to my bar for drink”. I have never been in such a chilled out place in all my life. its like everyone is stoned all the time. its so quiet, even in the second biggest ‘City” in Laos. its been said before, but life does NOT get out of first gear here. All there is to do in the day is see the sights , sit around having beers by the Mekong or use this little Internet cafe. Perfect life for me. Its what I dream life for me would be when I was rich and famous. Turns out I don’t need to be either!

Got up early today and went to see some caves. Very nice. Met Matt (Not Canadian) and just strolled around with him and Jay. i bought a head lamp torch thing and some new sandals. My trusty flip flops i think have met their end. i needed something stronger and rugged. Got more long sleeve shirts. perfect for me. Been getting a lot of sun on my back over here so its REALLY starting to look healthy now! 😉 Still don’t have a sexy tan though. Stupid Irish skin.Not to worry. not to worry.

So Anyway, I’m off to….. Ohhh, can’t say that! Someone might find out what part of their birthday present is. “Ill give you a clue. its in my pants and its not a toaster!” need to read up on some more Vang Vieng stuff. I’m sure if its smaller than here Ill meet up with everyone anyway when I get there. Karen, I will DEFINITELY see again. i keep running into her EVERYWHERE I go. Silly Brit.

Anyway, I’m sure theres Internet access there so I’ll take some more photos. The journey is only 7 hours on the bus so thats not a problem. Man, 7 hours on a bus back home would sound CRAZY. Over here, 7 hours is a lucky escape. By the way, I’m going down route 13 so if I’m killed (Read up on it yourself) I love you all and I miss you all. 😉

I uploaded a couple of more scenery pictures and other photos in the Laos photo section. Sorry I cannot put the rest up. The connection is too slow.

Take care of yourselves. Tell Buttons I was asking for her!
Be good to each other. See you soon.