chiang mai, pai, vien tiene, vang vieng and hanoi

woooooooow. ok those are all the places we've been since last posting. so i'll just give some specifics here. chiang mai and pai are in thailand. chiang mai is a great city, so more quieter than bangkok and with wonderful night markets. we booked a 3 day trek here and went to north chiang mai. we trekked through the jungle...about 3-5 hrs of walking a day. we stopped at an elephant camp and rode the elephants and also got to bathe them! i also got 2 elephant kisses from a baby. one of my best times so far. we also went to a village and go to play with the kids and be with the locals. at the end we went white water rafting then bamboo rafting. perfect day to end. we met charlotte, emma and alex, three girls from the uk and we've been traveling with them ever since. it's great having new friends to be with. anywho, we went to pai after that. pai is a perfect little artsy, eclectic town. the ride there was crazy windy, as in i've never been on a more topsy turvy ride. we had to go over a mountain and needless to say everyone was car sick. but it was worth it. we kicked back and had good meals, rented mopeds and went to waterfalls, and little villages. we also went to a canyon and basically got lost all day and went exploring. so our next country was laos. the ride was long and arduous but we made it. we got to vien tiene, the capital, and crashed for the day. we only stayed for 2 days because there's just nothing to do there. we found a great cafe and spent most of our time there. the style of the town is based on little french squares, and boulangeries, so it's nice, for a second. we headed out of there to vang vieng, which was awesomeeeee. the main attraction there is tubing. not just any kind of tubing. you rent a tube, they drive you up and there are 4 bars on the river. so all you do is kick back in the water or at the bar and enjoy drink. they also zip lines and rope swings which are beyond fun. sooo many kids our age, loud music, body paint and everything else. vang vieng is a great, young tourist spot. we also had hbo in our room which was such a nice treat for us. we met great people, found nice, cheap food spots and just had a blast. from there, courtney and charlotte really wanted to go luang prabang so they went for a few days. alex darted off on her own, she was traveling solo to begin with. so we'll meet up with her at some point. and emma and i are in hanoi, vietnam. we got in last night after a 30 hour bus ride. it was a trip...that's for sure. the bus was overbooked...shocking, and emma was on the floor on a rice bag. crazy. anyway, court and charlotte will be here in 2 days. emma and i are going to go to a baby orphange tomorrow and see if they need any help. we walked around the city today and it's fantastic. we've also been interested in volunteering so we emailed someone who is hopefully keen to take us on for 2 more weeks. just waiting for another response. hopefully, it all works out. so anyway, that's that! we've been having a great time and it's going by all too quickly. i'll try to put up some pics after i post this. i wish i could watch more of the olympics! i hear america is doing well. i hope everyone is doing great and we can't wait to get home and catch up! not sure when the next post will be. probably in cambodia. we'll be here for about 3 weeks, so possibly here. stay well my peeps!