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The chaotic symphony of backpacking across South East Asia was an enthralling experience, from riding through the wondrous landscapes and beaten paths in Cambodia to trekking for two days in the jungle of Vietnam whilst enjoying a self-made fresh fruit smoothie. 3 months I will never forget. Each day I dived into new adventures and was capitulated into an alternate reality. There was no greater feeling than hustling for an ice-cold beer, bargaining for food in the night markets and living with local families. What was my favourite country and most extraordinary moment? I'm glad you asked that question, it was a small country between Thailand and Vietnam called Laos. I spent three weeks in this country and could have spent so much longer. It was my first time riding a bike and yes it was an automatic, but not only did I manage to survive, with a few scratches, but I also rode 450 kilometres in 4 days. The days are spent riding through the mountains and stopping in ricefields, caves and diving in the cold, breathtaking waterfalls to free yourself from the sun beaming down on you all day. In the nights, all travellers meet in guesthouses where we eat the famous 'Larb', a famous spicy mixture consisting of marinated fish or meat, drink 'Lao Lao' and playing a french game called 'Pétanque'. On the first day, we clipped our helmets in, left our huge backpacks in the Mr Lu's store, where we rented the bikes, and we rode for an exciting THREE minutes until one the girls who I was travelling with asked Mr Lu, "Which one is the brake?". Minutes after we managed to pick Mr Lu's jaw off the ground after it was dropped by the baffling question, we were on our way. We rode through jungle paths, heated tarmac and dust tracks to see some spectacular caves, reaching high viewpoints and enjoying the amazing scenery that surrounded us. It probably comes as no shock to learn that the girl managed to fall off her stationary bike whilst trying to fight the mosquito stuck in her helmet. A battle in which she lost. We stretched out the day and rode into the darkness to reach the highly recommended 'Phosy Thalang', an amazing guesthouse where bikers gather around a campfire and share stories from the road. On a dark note, Laos is known to be a country where people enjoy a nice 'happy-shake'; this is a milkshake consisting of the drug, 'mushrooms' or 'shrooms', or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days. The host was singing, the fire was crackling and it was truly a beautiful evening that felt like a scene out of an American indie film. People sat around a campfire and enjoyed the relaxing music and the ice-cold beers. As I entertained the lady next to me by telling her how at that moment I was questioning my whole childhood as I had learnt that penguins have knees. Yes, I know, mind-equals-blown, right?! After we were booed as being the only two people not on drugs, an innocent-looking girl, high as a kite, was staring into the fire and she thought the campfire was the bush fires in Australia and she believed she saw a koala bear in the fire, which led her to walk into the fire. She did not scream. The world stopped moving. The clock stood still. The two seconds she was in there felt like an eternity. Everyone around saw the flames go down and darkness loomed, we all panicked and I reached over and pulled her out which led her to let out a piercing scream as she burnt both of her legs until her thighs. The lesson? Don't do drugs. I did not want to say it at the time, but I thought it. She flew out to Bangkok the next morning and later in the day we heard that she was doing much better. Every day is a new story when travelling but there is no story like the time I had to run for dear life away from the Malaysian Mafias. That is a story for another day, old sport. Until then, farewell.