The Elephant Crossing Hotel Vang Vieng

Picked up at 8am to go to bus station. Met friendly couple Gilles and Patrick from Jersey. We then embarked on a very winding journey through the mountains of central Laos! No wonder Patrick took travel sickness tablets. The corners were taken just a bit too quickly with deep ravines at one side...trucks and minivans coming towards us on the wrong side of the road! Heard rumours on traveller websites that bandits roam these parts too and hold up buses but this activity is not aimed at western...

This city is really weird!! It is very touristy and when I say that I mean they think they know what all tourist like, and true friends is awesome but it is weird when you are trying to eat dinner or have a beer and friends is on sooo loud that you can't even hear yourself think! In an attempt to get away from the drunken tourist scene we went on a group kayaking trip. The river was really beautiful and kayaking was fun...when we were actually kayaking. The company failed to tell us that we w...

I've had a few experiences when traveling where I can't quite believe I'm really doing something (jumping out of a plane, zip lining through the jungle..) standing on the back of an elephant and giving her a morning bath yesterday morning was another one of these experiences! The elephant lodge and camp were a few miles out of Laung Prabang and when we got out there we were told we would have to wait for a bit because the elephants weren't ready for us. I was hoping this wouldn't be another '...

So we all decided to get a little bit touristy and join a tour group through Tiger Trails. And I am so happy that we did. Our trek started with us riding bikes 14kms to the elephant lodge, and than walking to a huge waterfall. Than we got to meet our elephants, and trek through the jungle to an elephant campsite, where we fed the four big girls banana's and sugar cane. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, day two arrived. We woke up really early and crossed the river to meet our e...

I did not sleep well last night AGAIN! I have been getting a good night sleep every other night this week. My tummy has been rumbling and I don't know why. I think I am going to stop having shakes for a bit and see what happens. To prepare for our minivan ride I took some Immodium and some Gravol. I have it covered on both ends! LOL! Bill was a sweetie and went to the front desk to order breakfast for us and brought it up to the room. I had a bite of eggs and some baguette and tea. Bill had s...

The sun is out and the clouds have parted. It is very very hot. However today we needed to do some e-mails about accommodation and transport, and have been looking at a 3 day 2 night cruise down the Mekong between Laos and Thailand....Hels is going to spend her Rugby club money she got for her 50th birthday, before we left England in February. Hopefully we can get it sorted.....or should I say Hels will get it sorted while I play with the Blog. Wandered into town or towards the end of the roa...

Not too much to write today. River is going down slowly despite the rain so may be good news for us and 100's of others waiting. Vang Vieng is famed for the tubing and little else so people quickly get restless. We have to do it tomorrow as our last day so fingers crossed. If not Hels will have to get in a Kayak again. This morning we said goodbye to Kyle and Angela. Went to sort out our accommodation in Luang Prabang, next stop as it is difficult to get confirmation.....driving Hels nuts. In...

Yes it is a very special day ........ the Tubes are out and booking are taking place........NO we mean a very special day... Happy Birthday to Helens Dad Geoff.......we hope that he appreciates that this days Blog entry is his actual birthday present and it is bigger, in a worldwide news sense than any big present purchased for him by Andrew, Simon or Sarah...... well almost. We do know that Hels mum and dad have really enjoyed the blog and for that reason alone it has been worth all the effo...