The returning Sadhu ... And that's not all.

Well I have to say none of us were really inspired about going to Vang Vieng, there didn't seem to be any sights to go and see and none of us were really that keen on going kayaking or tubing. But we had two days booked in this strange town, so the only thing to do, was to ... Book a massage!

Our coach trip down was an interesting one, Laos law orders that a Laos tour guide should accompany us on our trips and seeing as Sam(bo) is Cambodian we had Taio to entertain us on the long, bumpy 7 hour drive to Vang Vieng! And I mean entertaining in the true style! All I can say is Jane MacDonald eat your heart out, you ain't heard nothing til you've heard a rendition of Michael Jackson's 'Peace Song' or Celine Dion's theme tune from Titanic sung in a strong Laos accent, to a group of travellers trying desperately to get to sleep in order to ignore the tight hair pin bends our driver was taking us along the steep hill side! And then ... And then we were encouraged to join in a little ditty called ' welcome to Vang Vieng, welcome to Vang Vieng' in high soprano voices!

And so we arrived at our guest house and I started to unpack ... Sacre Bleu! Streuth! Shizen! Bloody Hell! I was traumatised!! My hair serum had exploded in my washing bag! What was I to do? There wasn't even a tiny drop left in the bottle! I even tried to scrape off serum residue from the lining of my wash bag, but to no avail! All I had left was a half tube of travel size hair gel, which probably won't last me more than two washes and then the frizz will start to kick in!

Images from last years travels through India came rushing back; where no one uses hair gel and the humid temperatures played havoc with my dry curls causing them to frizz out to maximum capacity and I ended up looking like a throw back from the 1970's!

I had already told my group how Claudine had resorted to calling me 'Sadhu' because my dreadlocked, frizzed hair had started to resemble that of the strange looking Holy Men found wandering the streets of India and now it looks as though 'Sadhu' may be returning.

Please pray that there are some curly haired, gel using people living in Vietnam! We arrive there on Wednesday!

And so Vang Vieng wasn't starting on a positive vibe and that vibe was about to get slightly worse!

That afternoon was spent going on a reckie of the area, which basically consisted of a couple of streets filled with restaurants and bars, shops selling t shirts and various equipment for tubing and a couple of hardware stores.

It turns out that tubing was a big sport along that part of the Mekong river, however it also involved inordinate amounts of drinking and smoking illegal substances,resulting in 20 deaths last year, as well young tourists walking the streets wearing tiny bikinis and trunks, (offensive dress out here in Laos). And so the government stepped in and closed down the bars along the river front and basically ruined the whole scene.

And so now this once vibrant town is looking pretty sorry for itself, struggling to get by and resembling something out of a Stephen King novel!

But that didn't stop us booking our massage. I chose an aromatherapy one, in the hope that no bones would be cracked, popped, crunched or dislocated!

That night we all went out for dinner to a great place that came highly recommended by trip advisor and them, feeling tired I turned in for an earlyish night.

I climbed into bed, got all nice and comfy and then my stomach started to make a strange kind of gurgling sound. Or should I say a 'strangely familiar' gurgling sound. (remember I mentioned earlier that the vibe would get worse).

Ignoring any ideas with regard to the rumblings in my belly, I went to sleep. A few hours later I woke up and ran for the bathroom; not only was Sadhu returning, but he was bringing Delhi Belly with him, just for old times sake!

I'm sure you will all be relieved to hear that so far things have not got as bad as they did in India and so you are saved from my graphic descriptions this time round. (See last years post 'Strike back 2 - Project Immodium' - if you dare).

My stomach was kind to me, especially as I had my Aromatherapy body massage booked! And apart from the cracking of my toes at the end, it was very relaxing.

The day ended with a lovely meal of rice and plain veg - hmm.