Finale

Well folks, we're almost back home - can't believe we'll be in UK Saturday! Hilary - I'll give you a text or a ring on Saturday evening when we get in and let you know when we are due in Manchester on Sunday - around lunchtime I seem to remember. Any chance of a Sunday dinner??!!!
Laos has been wonderful - an almost unspoilt country of mountains, rivers and caves - I suspect 5 years will see a big change - not all for the better. One of the highlights was a trip to the Plain of Jars - massive stone jars scattered over a high plain and surrounding hills. Current opinion is that they were used to contain funerary offerings. Another highlight was wandering through the rice fields and clambering over rocks to several caves in the limestone karsts and another a 2 hour trip along the river and through 7 km caves full of stalactites. We have climbed hills towander around ruins of Wat Phu (5-13th century) and ridden elephants to an old Cham (1-4th C) ruined temple site on the top of some other hills! Today we went down the Meking into Cambodia to see Irrawaddy dolphins - black specks in the distance but the journey was good as were the Somphamit waterfalls we visited on the way. Tomorrow we visit some even larger falls on our way into Thailand to get the plane to Bangkok and then off to Heathrow Saturday morning.
We've been 2 weeks in Laos and Iain's impressions are of a beautiful country relatively untouched by tourism which is unlikely to continue in view of the government's policy to increase it. There is a peculiar mix of tragic history (USA bombings and defoliant destroying much in the north), religion (Buddhism and Animism), politics and economic revival (capitalism and communism seem to coexist happily with Buddhism).
See you all soon - on 18th April if not before. Lots of love Ann and Iain

Laos

Well - we're back in Vientiane after exploring Luang Prabang and surrounding countryside. Amazing mountains and forests and quite extraordinary Plain of Jars sites despite bomb craters and UXO (unexploded ordinance - mainly cluster bombs here) even after 35 yrs since USA raids. We are off tomorrow to the forests and will be uncontactable until 23rd when we fly back to Bangkok - and then we're almost home!!! Lots of love Ann and Iain

Krabi and Laos

Dear all - we have had a lovely relaxing time at Railay although the snorkelling wasn't up to much until we hired a boat to take us out to other outcrops/islands. The main bays are very dead, with all the boat traffic I suspect, and the east bay is just messy mud flats and mangrove when the tide goes out. Our favourite evening meal spot however was on the east side as the tide was in by then and it was beautiful. We also climbed about 200m up steep rocky cliffside to reach the jungle on the top with a great viewpoint. A swim was very welcome afterwards as we got very hot - especially Ann! The whole area is comprised of specacular limestone karsts covered with jungle and the beach on west Railay was silky white sand - very like picture postcards! We stayed in a semi-detached bungalow set in gardens between east and west bays of Railay and had two swimming pools to choose from as well as the beach. Apart from the days we arrived and departed the sun was fierce and we had to use plenty of suncream!
I did eventually get my phone back and took the opportunity of waiting for it in Ao Nang to have a great massage. Iain has just reminded me to say that there is very little evidence of the after effects of the Tsunami apart from a lot of new buildings - although 10,000 people were killed here. They tried to plan the rebuilding but it didn't work as people needed to rebuild their homes and businesses quickly.
We then had our adventures getting to Laos. No problems getting a longtail boat to Ao Nang and then a taxi to Krabi airport. The flight was even twenty minutes early getting to Bangkok so we had plenty of time to get a taxi to the railway station and catch the overnight train to the border. We had paid for first class (still very cheap by European standards) so we had a 2 berth cabin with washbasin to ourselves. We were stung for food though and didn't get much sleep. One of the weirdest things was hearing sounds as if the train was in a car wash at 3am - it was branches brushing over the train and went on and off for at least an hour! It was due at Nong Kai at 8.30 but actually got in at 10.15am (which we were told would happen despite the timetabling!). We took a tuc tuc to the Thai border and had to pay for our three extra days in Thailand (you now only get 15days without a visa if you arrive overland and we didn't hear about this until half way through our trip) but it was still cheaper than buying a visa. Then we boarded a shuttle bus that crossed the Friendship Bridge into Laos. In Laos we had to wait for a visa but it only took a couple of hours to get through the border, so not too bad. We then took a taxi to the starting point hotel in Vientiane and met up with the group last night. Vientiane is an amazingly quiet city - very peaceful and laidback - with wide tree lined streets (Rues and Boulevards because of French influence) and very little traffic. Laos only has a population of 6 million and 60,000 live in the capital, Vientiane. It was strange to cross the streets without taking your life in your hands! As in the rest of SE Asia their economy is slowly growing with a lot of new building and investment, particularly from China. We went to see various temples and stupas this morning and are flying to Luang Prabang tonight. It's not far but being a bit north it may be a bit colder and we may need our sweaters...today was like a good English spring day and I needed my fleece last night sat out at dinner! We understand that you are all having very cold weather in England and we're not looking forward to returning to that! We will be coming back here briefly in a week's time so will update the blog then if not before. Lots of love to you all and keep warm...Ann and Iain

Mobile phone contact

Dear all - I'm afraid that on the way to Krabi I realised that I had left my mobile phone on the bed at Treetops so we couldn't ring you on New Years Day. It was supposedly arranged that another group coming here today would drop it of at the hotel and we would pick it up before going to Relay - unfortunately that hasn't worked, so maybe we'll get on our way to Krabi airport on the 9th - or maybe not! I've just done a morning cookery class - great fun and very tasty - Iain got to taste it for lunch. We're off to Relay Beach and will keep in touch on the blog unless we get lucky with Skype. Please remind Iain to turn down all the radiators and set central heating to a minimum before he goes back to Bangor. Thanks for all your New Year messages. Lots of love Mum and Dad (or Iain and Ann - depending on who's reading!)