Laos

Laos was a country which made me slow down, watch the sunsets and appreciate the little things in life. Kids were happy here, swimming and playing. Ducks wandered everywhere and one boy tried to hand me a rooster. I'm not sure what he wanted me to do with it!

At first, I was a little wary of this bridge and whether it would hold my weight. After a few minutes of watching it, I noticed people riding their motorbikes across it. After spending a few days in Vang Vieng, I even rode a bicycle across it.

The bus trip from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang was a gruelling nine-hours. The bus was so full it seemed to be bursting at the sides. The aisles were crowded with people sitting on little plastic stools. As a foreigner, my legs were folded and crammed into seemingly impossible positions. Huge bags of rice were shoved into a space on the doorstep and a chicken was tied by the legs and placed into a little bag. A boy climbed out of my window in order to place bags onto the roof. (Remember the rice at the door?) If there was a checklist for craziness on a bus in South East Asia, we had met every criteria. With a shudder and a burst of black smoke – we were off.