Day 108 - Planning and Chilling

So we went to the pool today, although I couldn't swim due to my knee, and discussed what to do - due to the state of my leg I don't think we'll be trekking in the national park with Marie's friends, instead we might go back to Asha, where I was staying before, as the guards at Marie's tried to charge me 500 Baht for staying last night, and did so to another girl as well - apparently this has never been an issue before, so they must be having a crackdown of sorts. Also, Asha is a better place from which to explore bits of Bangkok we haven't seen, as I'm not sure if Salaya is even in Bangkok.

We ended up paying the 500 Baht, as it was easier than arguing, and was only 19 Baht more than going and getting an aircon room at Asha. In the evening we went to a place called Rob's Bar, run by a guy who is a student at the Uni, and also went to King's Bruton, and knows my mate Rob Child! Wierd. They had an open mic night on which mainly consisted of a chap called John from Derby singing various songs by the Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and a few others. I enjoyed it a lot, the international students seem like a cool bunch.

Day 106/7 - Back to Bangkok, again

Tuesday was a rather unremarkable day, overcast and grey, so all we did was sit, read, and eat. In the evening it was rather odd, we couldn't find anyone around - there were a few people in the bars, but nowhere near as many as there had been in Sunset. We met some friendly Dutch people and chatted with them for a while, but I decided to have an early night as I had to be up at 8 to go and get the Songthaew/Ferry/Bus back to Bangkok. This was fairly uneventful, I made all the connections without any problem, talked to a cool guy from Bristol called Bill at the bus station. The VIP bus was reasonably comfy and cheap, although I ended up sitting next to an old monk for the journey, and this meant I was constantly aware of where my feet were pointing, which sucks as I am a little taller than the seats allow, meaning that the most comfortable position for me is with my feet up on the seat...

My knee isn't as bad as I feared, although due to the placement of the missing skin (all the way round my kneecap) it won't quite heal, or at least it does if I stay still for a few hours, then cracks the second I walk. I was hoping it might have healed a bit more by the time I write this, but it is still a bit of a problem. I arrived back in Khao San, picked up my stuff and headed off to the public bus stop, to head up to Salaya - this was an hour long journey, mostly made standing, carrying both my bags, which must now weigh upwards of 30 kg combined. After 40 minutes or so I managed to get a seat on top of the engine, which was extremely hot, and resulted in me burning myself a couple of times, although quite minorly. On arrival at Marie's, we had to sneak our stuff in over the hedge to avoid detection, although I still had to be signed in. The life of an international exchange student in Thailand is pretty much the same as that of a student at home - everyone was sitting about watching pirated american TV shows, which we joined in, before going for dinner at the poolside restaurant. I currently have no plans for this weekend, although I'm sure some will crystallise pretty soon.

Day 105/6 - Addendum

So last night I met Sally and a couple of other people (a dude she worked with in Vancouver called Dave, and the sister of a friend of Marie, from Sydney) and we had a few relaxing drinks at Treehouse, before going to the place next door which was BANANAS. There was drum 'n' bass and it was packed full of people dancing out on a deck over the sea, which bounced a good inch or so with every beat. At about 4 this morning Sally suggested we go for a swim, so we did, but I think it may have all been an elaborate ruse for Sally and Dave to get together, although I have yet to confirm this - if this is not true I apologise for any sleight on her character, however she only got in at noon, and is now passed out in the bungalow in the still-damp clothes from last night. Golly there were a lot of contradictions in that sentence.

edit: Turns out that was a sleight on Sally's character, and nothing happened. Sorry x

It was pissing down for a few hours (apparently) last night, and as a result the island seems deserted today, and covered in puddles - I plan to read my book and lie in a hammock, convalescing. Also, I thought my flight from Singapore was on the 31st, i.e. Thursday, however I have just learnt that it is in fact on the 19th, i.e. far enough away that I needn't worry about it. Phew.

Day 105 - Motorbike Mayhem

Today I woke up feeling great after the best night's sleep I've had in weeks, had an awesome breakfast and rented a motorbike, aiming to head over to Long beach on the other side of the island. As we got to the northern tip, going round a particularly sharp bend, I lost control of my bike, wobbled a bit and fell, sliding along the ground on my knee and elbow with the bike on top of me. Arse. I could see Sally behind me looking shocked, so I gave her a thumbs up as I slid by. The wing mirror snapped off, and I ended up with the bike wedged under the railing, and noone stopped - about 20 cars and bikes drove by, seeing me on the floor, before one guy shouted and asked if I was OK. We headed back into town to find the clinic, but by the time we got there I found out that it wasn't as bad as I thought, so I went to the Pharmacy where the guy told me I had now got a "Koh Chang Kiss", and recommended I go to the garage down the road to fix the wing mirror, as it would be cheaper. He was right, and while we were there the owner's pet monkey took quite a shine to my friends Sally and Lauren, jumping on their heads an picking stuff out of their hair.

Back at the bungalows, having sent the girls off to Bang Bao, I realised Sally had the key to our room, so I had to get back on the bike (which I really wasn't up for) and head down to the stilt village to try and find them - I succeeded, and w ended up having a delicious, if somewhat messy, meal of fried fish, crab and prawns, before riding back and cleaning up my various cuts and bruises - I have an entirely mummified toe, huge plasters on my knee, and a bandaged wrist where I bent it backwards - in case anyone hadn't noticed from the last few weeks, I seem rather accident prone. When we returned the bikes, I thought I was going to get away with it, but the dude checked the bike and ended up charging me 4,500 Baht for the damage - that's 58 quid I wasn't ready to spend.

I'm going to go back to Treehouse and try and get a hammock, using my wounds as a bargaining tool if necessary. Tomorrow I'm doing nothing strenuous or dangerous, just reading my book on the beach and saving money.

Day 103/4 - Days & nights on the Beach

Day 103 (Saturday 26th) - Happy Australia Day!

Well, what happened today... after a leisurely breakfast, Marie and I spent the day on the beach, during which we got sunburnt (but only a little bit), swam in the awesome warm water, and generally chilled out. Other than that, today was pretty empty, but wonderful. We went to Treehouse bar for sunset and dinner, then watched the fire show at Nature bar, until it poured down with rain and everyone ran for cover, except Marie and I who remained out in the warm rain. We sat in hammocks, drank buckets and chatted for a while before returning home - yesterday there was talk of motorbike hire, boat trips and the like, but none of this ever came to fruition.

Day 104 (Sunday 27th) - See you in Bangkok...

Last night when we got back to the room there was a 2 inch cockroach sitting on our mosquito net, which I had to chase out of the door with a plastic bag. Just thought I'd mention it. Today we did much the same as yesterday, having an awesome breakfast at our place before making the 10 metre journey to the beach, where we met Sally - now that Marie has to go back to Uni Sally has kindly offered me her room to share until Wednesday, when I'll go back to Bangkok. Marie and her friends left at 3 this afternoon, to start the 8 hour journey back, at the end of which there is an assignment to be done which is due in tomorrow morning. Rubbish. I spent the rest of the day on the beach with Sally, and finally finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, after weeks of very enjoyable reading - I recommend it to anyone, and now have to find someone to take it off my hands. On our way to Treehouse, we found a fresh looking coconut and spent ages getting into it, using rocks, knives and our bare hands, culminating in us slurping milk out of our hands and gnawing on the flesh. It is a lot harder than it looks to get into a fresh coconut. After sunset at Treehouse, I moved my stuff up to Sally's, which is really fancy, especially compared to our bamboo hut, even if it is a little bit away from the beach. Now we're off for dinner and an adventure, maybe ending up at Lemon bar, where it is Male night, whatever that may mean.

Day 102 - to Koh Chang!

So, as (sort of) planned, Marie and I set off at half 6 this morning on our way to Koh Chang. This involved a ridiculously long, slow and expensive cab ride, followed by a 4 hour bus ride, an hour on a ferry, some time in the back of a Songthaew and a while wandering around looking for a room. We eventually found one for 700 baht a night (which is extortionate, by the way), and were in the sea by about half three, and we stayed in until sunset - it's perfect, so warm and clear, the beach is fine if a little crowded, and all's well - when I was here 5 years ago there was only one place to stay on this whole beach, now the whole thing is lined with resorts, bars and bungalows. It seems like a completely different island. We went to Ting Tong bar last night for a few drinks with Marie's friends (ohm I bumped into Sally on the beach today as well, which was cool) who sang a few songs as it was open Mic night. There was also a Thai guy playing called Ricky who was truly awesome, really nice to listen to. It was Marie's friend Michelle's birthday too, which resulted in various drunken dramas, all centred around Michelle, but as an outsider they were just sort of absurd and amusing to watch the various Americans getting all upset about nonsense. Also I went and chose a hammock as a present for her, which seemed to chill her out for a bit. We ended the night lying on the sand watching the stars and listening to old reggae, which was a pretty awesome end to a pretty awesome day. The only worry is how long will we be able to stay here, and is Marie going to skip Uni on Monday...

Day 100/101 - Woohoo!

Wow, that was a pretty awesome day. Dave went off to get his suit pretty early, and I read my book and dozed by the pool for a few hours. I texted the girl I met at Culture One (Marie) to tell her I was leaving Bangkok and it was a pity we didn't meet up again, she promptly replied and said she'd been trying to reach me yesterday, and did I fancy going out for a drink with her and some mates. When Dave eventually returned, we discussed this and after dinner and a fond farewell, (which included some really in depth discussion of past relationships, for some reason), I went off to RCA to meet Marie and co. On the way there I was chatting to the cabbie, and he asked if I wanted 'boom-boom' and proffered a variety of postcards of girls - I politely declined, and had a small nap instead. RCA is a mental street of bars, often with many sharing the same entrance before becoming a bewildering array of music and lights, including a live band in the toilet of Route 66. After chatting to Marie for a bout 5 minutes, I mentioned I might go to Phi Phi tomorrow, to which she replied "come to Koh Chang instead, we're going for the weekend!" After about 2 seconds of deliberation I accepted this offer, as it was my favourite place when I was here before. We had a really cool evening together, and I think I'll be meeting her after Uni today maybe, it's all an exciting mystery...

Day 99 - MORE shopping, and a tumultuous last night

I woke up having had almost no sleep, as I had been coughing all night for some reason. Having decided to take it easy, today was yet another day of shopping, although more for the others than for me. Rob and I went to MBK again and met Dave and Sally there, it was an uneventful trip apart from one rather awesome treat - Dave snuck off for a while, and came back with presents for Rob and I - badges reading "Sorry Girls" (see the Vang Vieng pictures for some sort of explanation) which we both are sporting proudly on our Japanese man bags. Yes, you read that right. We got a Tuk-tuk back to Khao San, and the driver got lost along the way, meaning that a tiresome journey became almost unbearable. I also received a present from Rob, which is a t-shirt which says "a city built on rick 'n' roll would be structurally unsound", which I saw the other day and had been searching for ever since. What awesome chaps, I haven't got them anything yet, I've decided to pick up something on my way to Melbourne/ Sydney.
After meeting the girls on the roof we went for a final dinner with Jane (the Thai girl Rob met at Spicy) at O! Hungry - Sally and Jane get on incredibly well, which is really awesome. We went to a bar called Gulliver's at the end of the road, where everyone except me got pretty wasted - due to my lack of sleep and some mild illness I was feeling pretty crap, and actually snuck off for a 20 minute nap at midnight, before doing the fastest ever sleep-dancefloor turnaround in history; under 5 minutes I believe. Rob and Hannah hooked up, meaning that occasionally it was two couples and then Sally and I, which can't have been much fun for her while I was in my exhausted state. Dave and Hannah disappeared for a while, as did Rob and Jane, leaving Sally and I up on the roof talking and trying not to speculate upon what was going on, but this was fine as afterwards we all sat in our room writing long lists of music/films/stuff that we should all get hold of before we see each other again, until Rob left at 5 this morning, leaving us with a whole 6 hours before we had to get up, check out and check me into my (depressingly) single room.

I'm close to feeling terribly sad about having to meet new people again, as it's a scary day or two when you're on your own. It's also sort of exhilarating in a way, and all will be well as long as I resist the temptation to do what I did last time I was lonely in Bangkok, and book flights home... I now have to book things (I think I'm going to Phi Phi tomorrow night to go diving), pack things (I seem to have acquired more t-shirts than I can remember buying) and post things to Australia (as I will have no need for jeans or jumpers for a while), all of which is terribly tiresome, especially since Emily has not yet replied to my request for her address. I could worry about all this, but instead I am going to go and sit in the sun, as I haven't really slept for a few nights, and am in need of some rest.

Day 97/8 - Shopping, Clubs and Garages

Day 97 (Sunday 20th) - Markets, Ping Pong and Spicy

After a slow start to the day, we met Jim, Sally and a girl called Hannah (who went to exeter, and knows John the Viking) at Chatuchak, where I bought an awesome cowboy shirt and a hammock, both red, and Rob bought another shedload of various goods. We went for an Indian to celebrate Jim's birthday, after which we failed to persuade the girls to go to Bed Supper Club, which I failed to go to when I was in Bangkok before. Instead, after some deliberation, it was decided we should go to Patpong and see a Ping-Pong show (the girls' idea, I might add). We fitted 6 people in a taxi again, which took us to a dodgy backstreet, so we made a sharp exit and headed to Patpong proper. We were taken to a club called, subtly, Super Pussy, which was horrendous, even by Patpong standards. We went to another slightly less nasty one, where we witnessed various ladies, all of whom were older than expected and looked incredibly bored doing various somewhat unspeakable acts - in summary, darts in the ceiling, eggs, bottles, flowers, ping pong balls, needles, and ropes.

We headed up the next street, apparently known as Ladyboy Street, where Sally's dad's bar is, then took a Tuk tuk to Spicy, one of a few after hours clubs in this city. The Tuk-tuk ride was the best I have ever had, and involved the guy pulling wheelies with Rob, Dave and I in the back (Jim and Hannah have photos, which will follow soon). Spicy was dead but filled up pretty soon, we had a pretty good time and met some cool people, especially Rob who met an incredibly gorgeous Thai girl called Jane. I was chatting to someone when I felt a rather invasive hand grabbing me. I turned round to see someone in a Red and White stripy dress who I had admired from across the club earlier, who had hold of me... and was clearly, if not now than at some point in her life, a man. I spluttered and ran, and when pressed on why I had been mildly ogling her earlier I may have uttered the immortal line "Well, she had pretty good boobs... for a dude". After all this nonsense, Dave and I caught a cab home via McDonalds, got in at 4 am, and haven't yet seen Rob...

Day 98 (Monday 21st) - Poolside chats and odd Bars

We didn't see Rob until 11, just after I got a call from Jane asking if he'd made it home safely. Today was spent by the pool, as we were all far too exhausted after yesterday's baking heat and shenanigans. Jane came over after work (she teaches acting), and Hannah's friend Thea has also arrived, so beers and chatting in the sun were the order of the day, until sunset (obviously, I suppose). We gave Jim his birthday present, which he seemed pretty happy about - it was a black and white print of monks at Angkhor Wat, with the robes in vibrant orange. We went for dinner at a noodle stall on Soi Rambutree, staffed by a crazy lady and her Mum, before going for buckets at The Station - this is a Shell garage by day, bar by night, complete with candles, and ashtrays (see the Culture One/Bangkok). The girls went for a massage and I met Sally later and went to try and find Rob and the others with little success, and ended up talking to her about various aspects of her life (including being in a fitness competition which involved close scrutiny of her body symmetry in the bikini round - she came second) up on the roof for hours - I think I know more about Sally than I do about myself now. Jim has departed back to England now, the first one to leave - Rob is off on Wednesday morning, the girls on Wednesday at some point, and Dave on Thursday morning. I'm going to be really sad to see them all leave, it's been really cool hanging out with these guys; having said that, I'm going to stay with Rob and Dave in Australia anyway, so it won't be too long. Now all I have to do is make some plans...

Day 94-96 - Back to Bangkok, and Hospitals

Day 94 (Thursday 17th) - To Bangkok!

We got up late and wandered Vientiane for a little while, although I mainly sat on the Internet as my foot was feeling pretty bad, I could hardly walk in fact. The Border crossing to Thailand was relatively uneventful, we played guess the ladyboy for a bit and I sat next to a french girl who cheerily told us she had acute food poisoning and was in real peril while on the bus. We caught the train from Nong Khai for the 12 hour Journey, and had a beer and played word games as I seem to have misplaced my playing cards. Rob and I watched Planet Earth on my laptop for a bit with the "Beer! Coffee!" seller, while Dave had a Velium (asked for Valium, was assured this was "same same but different" - seemed to work OK).

Day 95 (Friday 18th) - Shopping Trip

We arrived in Bangkok at 6:30 am, and promptly headed to Khao San Road to try and book into Rob's Hotel, then went for breakfast. It was still only 7:30, yet there were a load of English guys drinking beer and playing pool and generally being rowdy and letting the side down. After breakfast we went to the Adventist Mission Hospital to get Dave's stitches checked, and also my foot. Dr Elvie Villanueva proceeded to dig around in my foot with scissors and no anaesthetic, proclaim it to be rather inflamed, and sent me off for an injection which turned out to be a half hour drip of Rocephin! We eventually made it out of there and went to the MBK mall and Siam Paragon to get tickets for the Culture One Dance festival tomorrow night, and look around suits etc. for the guys. We spent ages in Hugo Boss, the place is amazing, it has a blokes' floor filled with gadgets, cars, suits etc. in which one could spend days. We came back in a Tuk-tuk, went for dinner and found Jim, played spot the sex tourist (1 pt for guy and a girl, 3 for guy-guy, 5 for guy-ladyboy), then went to the Cave bar, which has an indoor climbing wall and dancing girls in the smallest shorts we have ever seen, and The Club in which we met some girls from Staines and I felt ill, probably due to drinking on the antibiotics (although the nurse said it was fine).

Day 96 (Saturday 19th) - Culture One!

I went to the Doctors again, had another rough clean and Rocephin drip (this has cost me about £100 so far, I hope my insurance covers it). I went to Chatuchak market, failed to find the others, but bought some wicked t-shirts from the same store we saw at MBK. We met back at the hotel to get ready for the Festival, where Rob and Dave showed off some fine patchwork singlets, of which they happened to have a spare... The festival was AWESOME. We played the rejection game, and within 10 minutes Rob had a tiny Thai girl on his shoulders, allegedly called pussycat. We met loads of cool people, from all over the place, helped largely by the singlets. The Stanton warriors were good, David Morales was OK, if a little bizarre and weepy during his thank you speech at the end. I met the second girl from the rejection game again... there were problems at the end as we tried to find each other, then we met a load of teachers from the south and shared cabs back to Khao San, with 6 people in 1 cab, and went for the best Subway ever before heading home and laughing in bed at the awesomeness of the night.

Day 94 - A quick thought...

I just thought I'd mention that one of my favourite things about Laos is the fact that today I have been able to go for breakfast, a lemon shake, a cup of tea, charge my laptop and iPod and have an hour or so on the internet, all for the princely sum of about £1.50. I left the hotel this morning with £3 in my pocket, safe in the knowledge that this would almost certainly be enough for any meal I was likely to choose. I mean, Thailand's cheap, but Laos is a lot cheaper; or at least, is a lot cheaper immediately, meaning you don't have to haggle and argue for every bargain. Lovely place, Laos, I'll be sad to leave. Now I really must find a pharmacy and see what the recommend for my foot, and find a Beer Lao shirt too. Now, where's my Pince Cane...

Day 88-93 - Vang Vieng!

Day 88 (Friday 11th) - To Vang Vieng!

Had a bit of a disaster with the bus today; as I said, we missed the travel agent yesterday, so I didn't have a ticket and they didn't know where to pick up Jim from. Rob said he'd tell the guy where to come and get us, but apparently the guy wasn't up for this and nearly left without us, and only after an hour and a half of arguing did Joel persuade the guy to come back and get us, just as Jim and I were about to get a Tuk-tuk to the bus station. Phew. It was a long journey, in a tiny bus, and somewhat exhausting. We had a minor breakdown along the way as well, but everyone was too knackered and lethargic to mind too much. We arrived in Vang Vieng and found a hotel with a 4th floor roof, the highest in town, from which we watched sunset. We saw mysterious clouds in the distance, merging into one another, which we later discovered were bats coming out of nearby caves in the mountains, although it took ages for anyone to mention it in case it was a figment of one of our imaginations. We went to one of the Family guy bars (very odd phenomenon, all the bars here show non-stop Friends/Simpsons/etc.), followed by drinks at our rooftop bar.

Day 89 (Saturday 12th) - Tubing!

Today we went tubing - this involves drifting down the river from bar to bar in an inner tube, occasionally partaking in ziplines and giant rope swings into the water. It is INCREDIBLE. There are people with bamboo and bottles on a string literally fishing for customers, loads of really tanned, fit girls (and guys) all over the place, drinking and laughing. We left town at noon, went to the Organic Farm drop off point, and hopped out of the river at the first bar. The cruising down the river in the sun was nice, David and I did a tandem swing from one of the rope swings, twice. The gay shirt (see pictures) came into force for anyone who lost any challenge (I lost the breath-holding one). We got dragged the last 300ish m by some eager kids (mine was called Joe) who had caught some fish and were now acting as tiny river guides. we were exhausted upon our return, and could only just manage to slump in front of a screen in one of the bars.

Day 90 (Sunday 13th) - Bikes and Caves

We hired some bikes early, went north to cave, was quite nice, full of stalactites. then got lost a bit, kid directed us to his caves and told us we could swim. After a lengthy walk, with crappy torches, we reached a river, where he told us to swim 600m. Rob and I did it, it was absolutely dark and terrifying. we went round the corner for a while, maybe 600m, before giving up and turning back. It was really cool though, loads of weird rock formations (seemingly endless limestone steps for example), then we came back to the entrance eventually to find Jim had had his petrol stolen. We came back to town to find Chris, Katie and Emily sitting on our roof with a load of new arrivals. Rude. It's dinner time now, the swimming was tiring, and I sliced my feet up a fair bit along the way (much more than I realised at the time, actually).

Day 91 (Monday 14th) - Tubing Again!

We did far fewer swings this time, only a flying fox for me, although I got a bit too drunk and consequently can't remember a few things, like sharing the swing with Dave. The river seemed quieter this time, we didn't meet nearly as many people this time around. Also we started a lot earlier, 11ish I think, and made it back just before sunset. Along the way Rob and I played some awesome ping pong, while Dave and Joel played Volleyball. It was a pretty knackering day, I think we were in bed before 10. We are hardcore.

Day 92 (Tuesday 15th) - Private Beach

I went out biking solo today, out past the cement plant (which had big signs saying "no photo!" for a km around it) and quarry. I found a deserted bit of river with a beach(ish) and sat and read my book for a few hours. came back and bumped into Rob and Dave who'd been tubing, and got talking to a load of Aussie and Canadian girls, who were really awesome, although my chances were somewhat ruined by some boorish Aussies. At the end of the night, after an after hours bar, I was walking out of the bar and I completely missed the bridge, and ended up falling straight into a large ditch, cutting my foot again, and busting up my knees and side, rendering me entirely winded and useless.

Day 93 (Wednesday 16th) - Kayaking, Injuries & Walking Sticks

I got up, still drunk, did some very bad packing, and left Jim in the room. We got in a little Tuk-tuk van, drove an hour and a half (I felt so bad) and got off for a bit of a kayak. I shared with Dave, it was good fun, got a bit sunburnt but the worst thing was that Dave jumped off a rock into the rapids, aiming to swim down, but he slipped and ended up cutting open the skin under his chin, which resulted in heavy bleeding and an intricate and hilarious bandage. The rest of the journey passed without any further mishaps, and ended in us all sitting exhausted in the Tuk-tuk all the way to Vientiane. I have had to adopt a walking stick as the cuts on my foot hurt too much to walk normally with my bag on. We just went to the international clinic to get Dave some stitches (only $25, bargain) and I opted against getting any treatment, I think if I just keep it clean and dry it'll be fine in a day or two. If not, I'll go to a doctor in Bangkok, where I'll be for a few days. In fact, we may be leaving as soon as tomorrow, getting the overnight train all the way. I also seem to have lost a day along the way here, which is rather annoying. The rest of our evening passed uneventfully, we just ended up in bed watching 'Let's go to Prison', a quite appalling and bizarre comedy. Dave has promised to get up early and go and book our train tickets to Bangkok in the morning. Our Hero.

Day 85-7 - Luang Prabang

Day 85 - More Travel

We got the slow boat to Luang Prabang, which was much the same deal as yesterday. On arrival in Luang prabang we went out for dinner and a couple of beers, however Laos has a curfew, meaning everything closed around half eleven. Caught out, we had to get one for the road and go and drink it in our room, rubbish!

Day 86 - Minor Annoyance

I got up and wandered the streets today, went up the hill in the middle of the town for the amazing views. I got the impression from Katie last night that they'd prefer me not to be tagging along with them, which is fair enough but came as a bit of surprise. I bumped into Chris and we discussed this, so I have started making other plans, maybe I'll do a mahout course, or cruise down the Mekong to Vientiane. We sat by the river and drank until sunset, and had the same curfew problem again. The others are off to vang vieng tomorrow, and I haven't seen Jim all day.

Day 87 - Kuang Si Falls

Chris and Katie have gone, however Jim met some Aussies last night, who were going to the Waterfalls today - I went too, it was one of the highlights of my trip so far. It was tunningly beautiful, so mucch so that it didn't seem real in the slightest, it looked like a film set or part of a caribbean resort. There was also a tiger and some bears in a rescue centre at the bottom. Have a look at the photos, they don't quite get the beauty acrosss, but they'll do. There was a rope swing over one of the swimming holes, from which Joel managed to do some backflips. After overnapping massively, aand therefore missing the opportunity to book a ticket to Vang Vieng with the others, we went out to the Lao Lao gardens and I found where everyone goes after curfew - bowling! We went there until 2am, and displayed an awful lack of skills - I came second, with the pathetic score of 76.

Day 81-4

Day 81 - Beginning of Illness...

Katie, Chris, Sam and I went for a Sauna at the Good Life Cafe, which was awesome, and Emily came in half way through to say that she'd sorted travel for the 7th (the day after tomorrow). I had a shake afterwards with ultra-healthy seaweed in, and was extremely ill for most of the next two days. Like, really ill so that I can't sleep, which is annoying...

Day 82 - Ill waterfall

I slept(ish) early last night having to get up loads in the night, including once when I vomited into the shower because I couldn't make it to the toilet, which was fun to clear up silently at 3 am. In the morning we went to waterfall, out beyond Nancy and Jessie's new land, which Emily may be going into business on (!). The water was freezing, so we all went off to Pailand for dinner, watching the horses wandering through the rice fields. The Pailand guys very kindly cooked us all BBQ pork and rice,m although I felt so ill that I could only manage about half. When we got back I pretty much went to bed, and so I missed my last night in the Irie, which apparently included a moment (while i was spaced out and trying not to be ill) when Nancy looked from me to Emily and said "i want him". Damn, too late...

Day 83 - Off again

I returned my bike at about 8am, having mustered the strength to not stay in Pai. We got the minibus to Chiang Mai, during which I sat in enormous pain and turmoil sit in enormous pain for most of it, having dosed up on imodiums and water. We changed to a worse minibus to Chiang Khong, where we stayed the night at PJ's guest house, dealt with an extremely screechy woman, and got charged 1400 baht for visa services, while it should only be $35, but we had no dollars and so were at the mercy of their ad hoc exchange rates. On the upside, I managed to eat something for first time since friday morning (it's monday today). I slept like a log, although the room smelt slightly of sewage.

Day 84 - Laos!

Ok, note form time... We were up at 7, I managed to eat some toast, then we transferred across the river through the most informal border crossing ever. I exchanged $100 traveller's cheques for about 1000,000 kip, ending up with a massive loaf of cash. We got on the slow boat, and were immediately offered weed by a guy jumping from boat to boat. We settled down for cards and beer lao, but it was really crowded so after a while we moved to the back of the boat (by the engine out of a truck - still had cigarette lighter and dashboard attached!) where we settled among the bags for a few hours of reading, eating and drinking - we gave the engineer a few beers, he shared his food with us, we give him fags and he listens to BRMC. He is then awoken from his beery slumber by the lady from the kitchen, yelling at him to get on top and see the boat in. Oops. We have now arrived in pak ben village, in the Questhouse (that's what the sign says) - we were ripped off a bit, it turns out, but never mind. The room is clean enough, run on a generator so the light flashes as fan goes, and shower stops when the toilet flushes. We were offered weed and opium once again immediately we got off the boat - we politely declined, and are going to the bar for a drink now. Oh, Laos is beautiful by the way, we've been going down the Mekong all day, just greenery, sand and cows all the way. I have only seen one vehicle in 7 hours.

Day 78-80 - Hippying about.

Well, the last few days in Pai have consisted of wandering around the town, going on motorbike (well, mine's more of a scooter really) adventures, and drinking in Irie every night.

Day 78 - Wednesday was really quiet, mainly because everyone who had bikes went out on little missions, leaving me and Katie a bit stranded, so I just read (Intelligent Life is really good, thanks Clare) until the evening when we celebrated Chris' birthday at midnight with a load of buckets, before going onto Pong's bar for a couple of hours.

Day 79 - Yesterday was Chris' birthday, so we attempted to go to some hot springs in the morning, but failed as the car couldn't get up the road, so we went to Pailand instead, which is beautiful. It's a series of bamboo buildings, surrounded by rice fields with horses in them, and mountains. We sat around a fire on a bamboo platform and watched the sunset, which was incredible. After a few drinks at Irie we went and watched some live music at Reggae Place, which was really nice - just the band and about 15 people watching, sitting around a fire (again) on bamboo matting.

Day 80 - Today we went for an awesome breakfast just outside Pai, which had baked beans in it - everyone else was more excited than me, but they have been away longer. I have just been on a small adventure on my bike, out towards Chang Mai for 20 km or so, past all the Elephant camps and up into the hills a bit, to gain more confidence on my bike. I'm now off back to Irie to corral people into going to Pai Canyon for sunset. Oh, apparently I'm going to Laos tomorrow - I voiced an interest in going before I realised how soon we were going. I'll be back here around the 10th of february though I think, for the 'Combat Global Warming Raggae Festival'. Damn Hippies.

Day 77 - Hangover and adventures

New year's day was a bit of a write-off. We eventually made it out about half 4, headed up the hill to try and find some cheap/free hot springs, and found elephant farms and the temple on top of the hill, just in time for sunset, and petted some elephants on the way back. We went out to a place called Reggae Place after dinner, and got chatting to a really cool, if slightly bonkers Nepalese guy. We (Sam, Catherine, Chris and I) were all talking about, well, everything, for ages, then went back to Irie and watched Jackass 2, which was quite the antithesis of the rest of our evening. I am thinking I might get myself a motorbike for the next few days, as it makes it so much easier to get around, rather than relying on lifts all the time. Oh, also I'm out of my tent, and sharing a room with Emily, which will hopefully be a bit comfier than my little sauna.

(Sorry these are all so brief, I'm trying to catch up on a week or so)