Wednesday 5th June, by Amy

So we've hit June- our final month of traveling- and I'm in two minds as always. I'm going to sorely miss all the amazing characters we've met, the feeling of adventure that we wake up to everyday and, as you've probably already gathered if you've read any one of our other posts, I'm going to miss the food. I know that going 'back to London' will mean 'back to stress and responsibility'. However it will also mean 'back to Josie, friends and family'. I know that Mamie too is looking forward to cereal, her pets and her wardrobe. It's totally bitter sweet.

I'm actually slightly frustrated that we're already thinking about England. I blame student finance; it got my mind thinking about university and the issue of money, or lack of it. Most importantly, will I be able to travel this summer?! Technically, as I used my credit card during the first day scamming incident, I am in debt (oops). On one rather meandering bus ride, Mamie and I even brainstormed ways of earning when we get back. I don't want to be talking about this yet! We have 12 long days and nights left.

We can make many parallels between India and Nepal as well as between Thailand and Laos. For me, Nepal and Laos have a more relaxed atmosphere. The food is a slightly more limited version of each one's larger neighbour and, by chance I think, we do more adventurous activities in the two smaller countries. I have fond memories of the south of Laos. The local bus drive to the four thousand islands from Pakse was a great initial taste of the culture that was lacking in the South of Thailand. Firstly, it was nice waving to locals from the back of the truck and there was a great view of the countryside. Secondly, there were the chickens we had as fellow passengers and thirdly, there were the flattened and barbecued rats and chickens on sticks that were shoved in our faces at one particular stop.

We stayed on the island of Don Det for a few days. On the first day we went on a kayaking trip where we managed to prove our guides wrong about our kayaking skills; they initially insisted on our kayak being attached to their kayak by a chain... Mamie and I were irritated; we did a 10 day white water rafting trip! Besides, Mamie's arm muscles have miraculously appeared now. On this kayaking trip, where we visited the largest waterfall in South East Asia and watched Irrawady dolphins on the Cambodian/Laos border, we met a group of French travelers who we would later travel North with and see in Luang Prabang. We spent the day splashing each other and sharing insults. We also joined them in the reggae bar whilst they enjoyed their happy shakes. Apparently, even if I have forgotten a lot of my French, I make a convincing French person speaking English, which, I feel, is a valuable skill.

On our second night, after an argument with an internet cafe which resulted in us basically getting locked in until we paid them, we had to run through an intense storm to our bungalow. To make ourselves feel better, we ate a large number of mini fruit jellies and put all our valuables on the bed in case of flooding! It surprised me therefore that the next day we were able to cycle around the islands. Maybe the previous night's precautionary measures were slightly uneccessary. The cycling was a highlight for me. To start with, (and I know Mamie struggles to understand this) I miss exercise. It felt so good, even though I was aware of my pretty non-existant brakes. We pushed ourselves and decided to visit another waterfall. It was definitely a good decision, not necessarily for the waterfall but because of the beach a few minutes away that led us to an amazing rock formation, where we read, took photos and relaxed. The cycle ride back at sunset through rice paddies was bliss.

The trip North included our first bus journey where we could sleep on a sort of bed which was initially quite exciting. This sadly did not mean I could sleep any better however. We clearly haven't learnt from Nepal as we decided to chose the very back beds. It was a bumpy ride. The journey wasn't all bad; we had our best ever noodle soup at the stop over which as a change, had onion and lime added. The few hours we spent in Ventiane consisted of us searching for an ATM that didn't say we had zero kip in our accounts and getting a little lost in the process. We did see one attraction where the most interesting part was the ridiculous number of moths that lined the walls. We thought maybe they came here to die so when I said how beautiful it was, I couldn't help feeling a little sadistic.

In Vang Vieng, we met two bubbly English women, Kelly and Nikki, fellow Londoner Alice, Korean Suma and a really cool Hawaiin guy who I'm embarrassed to say the name I have forgotton as we met him right at the end! Highlights of Vang Vieng must be the cave tubing, rock climbing, the friends bar where we spent a few hours chilling in front of the tv with a fruit shake, and the banana and coconut roti pancake. For both Mamie and I, the morning we spent rock climbing was amazing. We started with an easier climb where I got a little stuck at one point meaning I had to basically flop forward in between two rocks. This provided a lovely view from below which Mamie has kindly documented.The second, harder climb was really fun, if a little terrifying at points. Fortunately,  whilst Mamie was coming down (and not whilst she was still climbing), a man climbing next to us fell about 15 feet and sent his belay man way up into the air! This was just before my climb... The third climb was really challenging at the top, leaving me  clinging on to rock for dear life and having to lean into some rock to my right to stop from shaking! This was only a temporary solution; in the end I had to give up and fall back which you'd think would be easy after a bungee jump! All my trust was in Mamie. Mamie is officially now named 'Crazy Monkey Climber Mamie'; she managed to climb up a 6a climb by jumping on to the rock face and somehow managing to grip. We didn't do the tubing in Vang Vieng as we felt it looked slightly dead when we kayaked past - sadly much of the town was empty and felt a little bit like a ghost town. This didn't take away from it's beauty.

Luang Prabang, our final stop before we do the gibbon experience! On our night journey and one day spent here we met a lot of great people. We spent the scary bus journey chatting to Canadian Jeremy about photography and music. We met some entertaining Koreans here too who kindly bought us a much needed ice coffee. We shared a taxi to the famous waterfalls with two Australians. The father told us fascinating stories about his travels in Iran, Pakistan and Burma. In the evening, we broke our no alcohol pact and each had a cocktail! I had a cocktail with chilli so I think it counts as being cultural. We had a great night with our French friends from the South and our German friend, once we found the elusive bar called Utopia. We went bowling afterwards and I managed to go my first three turns getting zero, much to Mamie's amusement. However, I must get the night's most improved award as I came back with a strike and a spare, beat Clement and ended in fourth! I couldn't hide my smuggness.

I'm writing this on our first day on the famous slow boat along the Mekong river. Next, the gibbon experience. Bring on the Huntsman spiders the size of bowls, the mosquitos and the leeches!