From Vang Vieng To Savannakhet

Thursday's trip involved a lacklustre session of paddling a rubber ring through an unexciting cave, followed by some tiring and unrewarding kayaking down a river. Things were eased slightly by the fact that my kayaking partner was one of the guides - although whether he minded me taking regular breaks from the job at hand I don't know. It was the most dull trip so far in my travels, and I spent the evening with a good Friends session and a last brief visit to Vang Vieng's lively bars. It's incredible how you meet so many familiar faces during your travels - sometimes faces from as long as two weeks ago. Alas, Axel is in South Thailand so no chance of a reunion, although he has now set up a facebook group for his proposed adventure to Papa New Guinea!

On Friday I left early to catch the coach to the Laos capital, Vientiane. I had heard there was little to do in Vientiane, and that appeared to be true. Nevertheless I enjoyed my time in surely the most relaxed capital city in the world. Most of Friday was spent just wandering around, and also popping into every bookshop I could find. Before I left England I envisioned that I may want to read whilst on my travels. I don't normally read, but with so much time waiting or travelling it seemed a good time to start. I knew a guitar could always keep my occupied but I didn't want to be stuck dragging such a large and expensive object around with me. Back in Bangkok I had considered buying a copy of The Beach, but more recently I had developed a will to read The Lord Of The Rings. In Vang Vieng I came across the second part of the trilogy , so I had high hopes of discovering the first part in Vientiane. Despite finding all of the books in French, the third part in English, and a goliath monster book encompassing the full story for thirty dollars, I am yet to acquire what I need.

I was also still without a guidebook, and now more than ever I needed one. I was in the centre of the north section of South East Asia, and a decision now had to be made. I could backtrack north and continue travelling clockwise, but this would mean missing out South Laos. Alternatively I could head south then finish off the nearby countries anti-clockwise, but this would ultimately mean flying all the way from North Vietnam to Bangkok. I realised, however, that rather than taking a flight, I could re-enter Laos and travel through the parts of northern Laos and Thailand I had missed out. I spent much of Saturday with my head tucked away in a newly purchased Lonely Planet guidebook, and I made my decision; I was to head to South Laos.

With my decision set in concrete I headed back to my guest house. At one point I past a couple of English guys thrusting a guitar into the face of a Laos shopkeeper. I paid little attention to this, but seconds later my ears pricked up. "Want a guitar?" shouted one of the guys to a stranger across the street. If the stranger replied I don't know, my instinct kicked in. "I'll have a guitar!" I said on the swivel. Whether the stranger across the road had even wanted it, I don't know - I never even looked in his direction! Within thirty seconds I found myself walking down the street with a barely used guitar on my back, tuner included! It all happened so quickly that we were already walking our separate ways when I realised I should have at least offered to buy the boys a drink! Back in my room I gave it a quick spin. It sounded great.

In the evening I chose to eat at an Indian restaurant for a change. This is where I met Fred from France. We had a very interesting conversation that evening. I never expected to meet anybody on my travels who could share my musical admiration for both Damien Rice and Jamie T.

The next day I completed a few errands in preparation for my journey south. This included buying a copy of a book I finally managed to find - not Lord Of The Rings, but The Beach. I also bumped into the generous guitar boys again. They informed me that their friend had been sick of dragging it about with him, so just dumped it in his room and left. They decided that it deserved to go to somebody who wanted it. Whether I'll also find it a nuisance, I don't know, but if I do I'll ensure it gets passed on to another willing player. It will probably end up being the best well travelled guitar in Asia.

Sunday's bus journey was suppose to last about six to eight hours on public transport. It turned out to be about ten. As the bus set off I noticed the TV screen turn on. 'Surely not?' I thought when the word 'Karaoke' appeared on screen. As it happens, there was no invitation for anyone to stretch their vocal chords, but cheesy Asian pop with on screen lyrics did play for the majority of the ride. Luckily my IPod was fully charged, and I found myself a quarter of the way through The Beach by the time we arrived in Savannakhet. Another moment to note was when we went through a section that was incredibly smoky. Locals on the bus were covering their mouths with their shirts. I don't know why the air was so bad, but at the same moment the entire sky was a murky shade of purple red. It was eerily beautiful.

I arrived in Savannakhet at midnight. I gladly accepted the services of a tuk-tuk driver and was taken to a guest house. As my Lonely Planet informed me, there is very little here, but apparently there are some fantastic but expensive treks to do. Shortly I will enquire about this. The only problem, however, is that I have barely seen any tourists round here at all, and I think I will be very lucky if we have enough people for a trek in the next day or two. Only time will tell.