Laos

We have fallen in love with Laos. We just love the country to bits. The lifestyle is relaxed, the scenery is gorgeous and the people are just so warm and sweet despite the language barrier. There's just a certain charm and warmth about the country and the people. And, even though Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world, it is by far one of my favourite all-time places to travel. It really is amazing- you must see it for yourself. It hasn't been destroyed by the almighty dollar and irresponsible tourism. I really hope it doesn't change too much in the future.

We did a boat trip down the Mekong River and it was awesome. Along the way we stopped in to some tribal villages and they had never seen any westerners before... they don't even speak Laotion- just their own language. And still, despite being unable to communicate, and the fact that "strangers" were in their village, they were shy yet genuinely interested and so welcoming.

We even did an overnight stay in a remote tribal village and that was quite an amazing experience. No showers, toilets, beds, hot water, electricity, etc. Very basic and we did just like the locals did... bathed in the river, ate their food, played with the children and helped with the rice and craft making. Again, the people were just amazing and the children were so darling.

Once again, I don't have much time and there's so much to write about but I'll end this for now. I will tell you that I was: 1. attacked by leeches and had to burn them off; and 2. we went kayaking down some rapids and capsized in the river. It was fine and actually quite fun but our dry bag wasn't quite dry and our passports are a sight for sore eyes. We're hoping they'll hold out until the end of the trip... fingers crossed!