Angkham Hotel Vientiane

So I am currently in Laos and though I've been here less than a day I'm loving it. There is no one staring at me, harrassing me, trying to sell me stuff, starting conversations constantly, cracking onto me, wanting to shake my hand, it's clean, there are no putrid smells, I'm able to walk along without looking out for cows, goats, dogs, people, rickshaws, cars, motorbikes, bikes, potholes or anything else I might run into or might run into me, there ...

... walked back to the hotel and on the way saw a few she-males walking the streets. One was particularly pretty with long hair and spectacular legs. These people don't have an easy life, yet all have a ready smile and a cheery disposition.<br><br>Today, we said a little prayer and got on another Lao Airlines plane to get to Luang Prabang (LP). This one had good tires though, so Pierre breathed a sigh of relief. We decided to take a plane ...

... go on the border you can only get a 15 day visa which is useless so you can either get a 60 days visa from Vientianne (which we did) or fly (which we can&#8217;t afford to do!).<br><br>We&#8217;re leaving for Vang Vieng 2moro which after hearing all the stories from other travellers we are both nervous and excited about. Here travellers go tubing down the river while drinking copious amounts of alcohol. As you can imagine it sounds fun but also very dangerous. Oh well &#8211; i ...

... with the stones on my ipod almost felt like we were in Apocalypse now! Almost....<br><br> We had a stop over in this tiny village on route called Pak Bang, which turned out to be pretty memorable (for all the wrong reasons!).. the village was just one road long and reminded me of a wild west town! They only ran electricity into the village from 6-10pm, so soon as it hit 10- it was lights out and back to our hotel rooms ...

... people gather at the river bank for the Naga procession and cultural performance that reflect the rural village traditions of the northeast region.If all goes to plan the highlight of the trip will be the amazing sight of the Naga fireballs erupting into the sky, a phenomenon that is very likely to prompt some light hearted banter ...

... in fact to go tubing, which was a massive shame as it had been the only reason we went to the hell hole that is Viang Vieng. Sadley we set off without him, and soon joined the 40 odd other English/Irish/American tourists who, like us, saw nothing dangerous or wrong about floating down a fast flowing river on a rubber ring, stopping to drink along the way. My primary concern was how you were supposed to stop at said bars. When we arrived this small mystery ...

... calling people ******* and such what. He was classic, wish I had a pic of him. His name was Tapeworm.<br><br>Adam and Michelle, coworkers of Wes', showed up. They are AKA Snurge, which is the term for a man that smells women's bicycle seats and Village Bicycle for Michelle. They are both cyclists, so the names are given to fit. Sir Cum Navigator travels a lot, as does his wife Globe Twatter. I don't know how Tapeworm and Numb Nuts got their names. Another 15 people showed up, and everyone ...

... went to an internet café and finished some work and then went to bed. On my first day of work with the other interns, it was kind of cool because everyone was really excited for us to be there and the main attorney took us out to lunch at this restaurant called Mahkpet which helps street children. The food was seriously delicious. Afterwards we went to the big market here in Vientiane, the morning market, to go look for laws to buy. It was the most unusual experience ...

... br> We arrived late and everyone was already sitting on the floor with the three monks facing us, we did sitting and walking meditation for an hour or so. It was very relaxing and something that i want to practice more when i get home. <br> The rest of our time in Vientiane we spent hiding from the sun and drinking fruit shakes. A few days in the capital is enough so we headed off to Vang Vieng for some tubing...<br>

... figures of this conflict are staggering - even more so when you think that Americans (nor, in the main, the Western media) didn't know about it, and still don't. If ever there was a prime test case for Noam Chomsky's Propaganda Model, which states that Big Media tends to ignore the plight of those 'hostile' or irrelevant to US foreign policy, this is it.<br><br>Here are the facts and figures. During the Secret War the Ravens, the codename for US pilots in Laos, who flew in civilian ...