Next stop: Vang Vieng

A fun fact to begin with: a hangover plus a bumpy six hour bus journey that slowly winds it's way up and down mountains are not good bed-fellows. I think it's safe to say that the Alka Seltzer I borrowed from Maria saved me!

When we arrived in Vang Vieng we all booked into a $3 a night guesthouse and Hazel, Maria and I left Dom & Tom sleeping in their room whilst we went out to have a snack and a drink. We ended up not finishing our disgusting fruit salad and fruit shakes at a little bar, instead we led out and watched about two hours of Friends on the TV. It appears that every bar and restuarant was showing Friends on their TV's, it must be the only DVD in Vang Vieng?

Later we met up with Dom & Tom at an Indian restaurant that was recommended in one of the guidebooks. The food was nice, but nothing special, and certainly not worth recommending.

After dinner we met up with Maria's cousin Annie and her Australian friend Hannah at a bar for a few drinks and a chat until closing time. A government curfew means that everywhere in Laos should close at midnight. At the bar we were handed two menus, a food list and a drinks list, I thought. It turns out that I was completely wrong. Opium or weed, anyone? I stuck with the trusted Beerlao.