Laos

Laos is a Communist country that has lost its way. The country is very poor and is like stepping back in time. The houses are built on stilts and the walls made of ratan. The place may be dirt poor but the people are lovely, very polite and full of smiles
The weather has been awful so far and has rained almost non stop for about six days.Our first stop was Luang Nam, a one horse town near the border in a lovely little guest house tucked away from the street. After a day of not doing much but eat and talk we decided to go on an expedition. 12 of us got into tuk tuks and set off into the jungle where we met some guides and walked through a small village inbto the jungle. The rain had now turned everything into mud so it was only a few minutes before people started to slide down and fall about. It was the funniest thing I have seen in years. Nick gave up and was taken back whikle the rest of us struggkled on deeper into the jungle with our guides cutting the way. After a few hours and much laughter we arrived at the top of a waterfall in flood and found we had to wade through it up to our waists. When we eventually all got over we carried in to a remote hut where our guides laid out banana leaves and fantastic food of sticky rice, meat, vegetables and spicy dips. We emptied out our boots, rung out our clothes and had lunch. We then carried on until we  met our transport and were taken to another river in flood where we were going to kayak. The approach was in knee deep soft mud which made the launch interesting!! It was great fun for another couple of hours even though we nearly sank! It was a great day but my boots will never be the same again.