4,000 Islands, Laos, 10th November 2008

Just a quick update as it's nearly sunset and I have a date with it in half an hour. I'm in a place called the 4,000 islands. It's in Southern Laos and the islands are on the Mekong. I'm on one called Dat Dhet in a little hut with no electricity and a balcony over the river with a hammock. I'm recovering from tubing, a sore throat, too much drinking and sleep deprivation. My girl friends have had to go to the capital, a charmless place called Vientiane, a favourite of sex tourists, to sort out their passports. Their bag of valuables was stolen from their guesthouse in Vang Vieng (the tubing place) including passports, driving licence, money, camera...etcetera. My heart really goes out to them as it's an awful thing to happen. I'm staying here for another two nights before probably joining them in Bangkok on the 15th. Chances are we'll head back down to Southern Thailand, either back to Koh Tao, or over to Tonsai on the West coast. There's a beach there reported to be the best in Thailand. Can't remember what it's called...will get back to you about that.

I've got some fantastic pictures on Picasa but haven't yet figured out how to port them across. I've tried pasting in the URL link but it doesn't seem to have worked. I'll try again from Bangkok where it's likely I'll be in a few days. There are a few on Facebook though where people have tagged me so check that out.

I'm in the unusual and unlikely situation of being on my own. It's weird but pleasant at the same time. I get sleep. And I'll do some yoga on my balcony later. I'll probably end up bumping into people I know from travels unless I hide out in my hut. Which is likely. Naturally we all had a great time in Vang Vieng. The girls absolutely LOVED tubing, it's impossible not to. Our crowd of friends has swelled to about 16 now and the girls went kayaking with them yesterday. Apparently it was all very dramatic with numerous near-death experiences and much clinging onto trees. I was enroute from Vang Vieng where I stayed a coupla extra days...but more of that later.

News is:

• I've booked a flight to Melbourne for the 19th December.
• I climbed a grade 5b rock-climb.
• And cried.
• Twice.
• Cecil has deflated. RIP Cecil. You will fly again.
• I'm thinking of going either to Indonesia or back to India before Australia.

Has anyone been to Indonesia who can tell me what it's like? Well that's about as much staying indoors staring at a screen as I can cope with right now. I need to go and see a travel agent about what to do tomorrow. I'm pondering on either kayaking (with a different company to the one my friends used) or hiring a bicycle and cycling around the island. Apparently there's a massive waterfall here somewhere. There is also a rare species of freshwater dolphin in the Mekong so I might do a tour that includes a bit of everything as it'd be fantastic to see the hook-nosed dolphins. I wonder if they're the same ones as those in the Ganges. Happy Birthday Graham and TTFN.