Laos

Hey guys!

Wooo, home in under 6 days! nuts! what a year! its been so great seeing the ones of you i saw, missing the ones i didnt and not seeing you daino. ah who am i kidding, i even missed you. pity we couldnt have caught up in Bangkok when you were there.

So a lot has been happening. quick run through. we went down through Laos to Cambodia. Then went across the country quickly before coming down here to Koh Tao where we have been diving for the last week. Magic. now some details.

I left you last in Luang Prabang. Firstly that waterfall was freaking sweet!! i have so many cool photos of linden and i swimming in a pool at the top of a big plunge. i think i like it better than erawan. Next we took a bus to Vangvieng. Wow, we went tubing one day and what a mad mad day. Drinking beers and shakes made us pretty happy and in the perfect frame of mind for a lazy tube down the Nam Song. All kinds of crazy swings and mad people really made for such a fun day. Sadly the hangover left us uncabable of anything but sitting around watching family guy and friends the next day. Next day we hired a motorbike and hit the caving scene which was amazing. having never been it was pretty damn cool. Especially the one where we had to pull ourselves into the cave in the water for hundreds of meters sitting in a tube. awesome. pity some jerks cyphened our fuel and we had to refill to get home. jerks!

So next was Vientiane. Didnt do a whole lot other than get our cambodian visas and some good japanese food. then it was time to go all the way down the country to the 4000 islands. Beautiful. We stayed on Don Khong which was very quite and had some great things to explore. we rode bikes all over the island seeing 2 huge waterfalls, a beach and we even hired a boat to see the irrawady tiver dolphins. kinda stupid looking with no nose. but very cool nonetheless. after two days it was cambodia time.

Annoying, we got stuffed around at the border and couldnt make it to phenom penh and this meant that we had to cut the capital all together. we got stuck in the shitty town of Kratie. The next day was spent getting to Siem Riep. For the next 2 days we visited Wats. Amazing, Angkor was incredible but each wat had some cool element of its own as rulers tried to outdo one-another. and our tuk-tuk driver was awesome! such a genuine nice guy. we had one crash which was scary. we hit two dogs running across the road and the driver and the bike went under and we kinda skidded on them. I jumped out and lifted the trailer off them and the dog came exploding out covered in petrol as did our driver (with skinned feet and knees). He refused to go home or even take care of himself saying he was fine. Always with his huge grin. We really liked him, could have been really hurt if he had swerved but he took it for us.

Sorry, i got away from it for a bit, Angkor was just amazing. weather wasnt great and the kids/touts were horrible. No i dont wanna buy your f@!king pineapple b*tch!! sorry but i had to let off a bit of steam.

Then it was time for the horrible trip to bangkok. hours and hours on that horrible road to the border. well we got there and even met up with james for a beer. crazy kid is at the full moon party right now. us old timers gave it a miss for quieter koh tao. Anyway thats just what we did the next day. bus then ferry to koh tao. Linden got stuck stright into her open water divers course.

Our first real day here was my bday so i decided not to start my course immediately. I lazed on the beach. Called mum and dad, got a massage, lazed by the pool, back to the beach.... then it was dinner and bed. couldnt ask for a more relaxing lovely day. heard from lots of guys back home. Sam got in first nice and early, but also heard from all the family and lots of facebook and phone messages. Was really cool.

So the for the last few days its been my Advanced Open Water Course keeping me occupied. Now im qualified to 30m depth so i can go down there and get 'narked' anytime i want. Saw some pretty cool stuff. hawksbill turtle being the best. also a very poisonous banded sea snake. triggerfish other cool things but the whaleshark still eludes me. next time!

Yeah so lindo and i have been spending it up and celebrating out qualifications and imminent trips home. been amazing and we have a few days left. eek cant believe ill be home soon. cant wait to see everyone again! and eat the foods ive been missing!

Anyway, this has been long enough already, ill see you in a few days.

Lots of love, Happy Birthday to Sara and Plummers (20th and 21st)
Tim and Linden