Merry Xmas!

Hello all, I hope you are having a great xmas holiday. We have finally got around to writing the 2nd installment of our adventures. We have done so much since last time that I could write forever, but don't worry I won't :)

View at Nong Kiaw

The next place we visited after luang prabang, (where we left offf last time) was a village called Nuong Kiaw, 3 hours north. It is set in the most amazing surroundings with mountains on both sides. We had a great time there and one day some local children showed us around some caves that were used to hide and live in during the Indochina war. The kids were good fun and even let and Adam and Tate (an american guy we met) play Tacraw with them, i dont think that is how it is spelt but its basically volleyball without using your hands! Another day we followed a dirt track to another town and ended up in a village where they were "collecting their dinner" from the other side of the river i.e. killing one of their cows! haha and then one of the farmers to us back to our village in his little boat!

Pak Ou Caves

Our Guides!

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Adam getting beaten at takraw

Temple in Vientianne which housed 6000 buddha statues

We left Noung Kiaw on a slow boat to luang prabang and then onto Vientianne (the capital of laos) on the most horrific night bus - god knows how we werent sick! I thought my head was going to wobble off! Vientianne was a nice relaxed city. We  had a traditional sauna at a temple (Wat) which was lovely and we rented bycicles which was actually ok as everyone drives super slow in laos.  We also went to a place called COPE - rehab and prosethtics service, primarily for people injured from unexploaded bombs (UXO)  WE found out that Laos has been the most heavily bombed country in the world which was pretty shocking! Was a great place and thy seem to do a wonderful job of helping to rebuild lives and is well worth a visit if you are in Vientianne.

Me after the herbal spa

From Vientianne we flew to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) in Vietnamand only way to describe is pretty mental and VERY noisy. A fun place though with lots going on but seriously hectic! The roads are full of motorbikes and no-oned ever stops for you when you are crossing so you just have to step out in front of traffic and walk slowly and they go around you (hopefully).

Whilst we there we visited the cu chi tunnels that the Viet Cong used in the war..was a bit gimmicky a nd had a shooting range so wasn't really my cup of tea, (especially as we had just been to the War Remnants museum and seen all that happened during the war) although being in the tiny tunnels on hands and knees really makes you realise how tough they must have been (and also how short they were)!

One of the traps used by the vietcong

Our guide buying some fruit at the market

Next we travelled south to the Mekong Delta capital - Can Tho. Here we arranged a tour of the floating markets and canals, we got up at 5 am and went out on the canals visting the markets and also went to a rice making factory and some rice fields. Also got a wonderful present from the Hotel in Can Tho - over a 100 bedbug bites, yuk :( The joke of it  is that Adam has a record 0 bites! 

Making rice noodles

Boat at the floatin gmarket - they hang whatever they are selling on the bamboo pole so everyone can see

Rice paddy

nice :)

We arrived on Phu quoc island on xmas eve, - its our first beach destination and its lovely, the beach its beautiful, the sea is warm. i think lounging on the beach is pretty nice way to christmas!! 

Next we are off to Kuala Lumpur, as Adams friend is DJing at Ministry of Sound there and then we are off to the phillippines for 3 weeks and were hopefully going to do the PADI open water dive certificate aswell as some travelling around...cant wait :)

Also just to let you know that facebook is blocked in vietnam, along with bbc news and who knows what else so if you want to reach us try on ad.brown@mac.com or lanarenny@yahoo.co.uk

Hope you all have a happy new year, catch up soon love Adam and Lana xx