A Bug's Life

To say that I've never been to fond of large insects, let alone spiders, is an understatement. They actually make me feel sick. Imagine my horror, when we experienced 24 hours that would curl the toes of Terry Nutkins? Considering we've made it thus far without undue trouble, I can only blame the rain for bringing us the beasties. It started on our last day in Vang Vieng. We went out, had a pootle round on the bike and stopped by the Organic Farm for a quick mulberry shake, when we noticed this very cool praying mantis. Braving the photo opportunity, I began to think that insects weren't all bad - so long as they're kind enough to stay still and not fly in your face when the flash goes off. Then it rained a lot more, but we went out that evening and had a nice dinner and a few games of cards. Nothing untoward there - that's what we do every night, without fail. Anyway, we were walking down the steps of the guesthouse when Andy spied a beastie. Massive and horrible. Thing is you never know if they are shielding enormous fangs and/or a deadly venom.

Almost recovered, we retired to our room and got ready for bed. It was only when Andy need to retrieve something from his rucksack, did we discover the mighty cockroach lurking beneath the safe confines of the bag. Luckily, with a bit of coaxing from a flip flop, we were able to manoevre it out the door. All settled, nighty night. Or maybe not. I could not sleep, no matter what I tried. I felt sure there was another force in the room. That's the thing, sleeping sans mozzie net - you can never feel fully secure. After many fretful hours, we arose early and got ready to leave Vang Vieng. It was only when Andy moved his rucksack AGAIN that the full horror hit me - we'd been sharing our room with a MASSIVE arachnid. I mean, along the lines of Aragog. I knew it! That nasty pasty had been giving out insomnia vibes all night! Sadly it scooted off before we could provide you with photograhic evidence. It may not have been within the dimensions of the Giant Wood Spider, but it was hideous enough.

But it was not something I could dwell upon, for we had a 6 1/2 hour minibus journey ahead of us. I sent Andy out for an iced coffee and a baguette to see us through the journey. It was only when he returned that he led me to the most enormous (thankfully dead) insect I've ever witnessed. I'm not sure the picture does it justice, but it was extremely evil. Andy has been forced to have his hair cut in a threatening stylee in an attempt to ward them all off. All this drama within 24 hours has made me very scared - I really don't think I can go through with Australia.


Return of the Monkey

The Andy and Sam blog is proud to present a new blog which will show you the kind of food that we are eating and also remind us what we loved and how to cook it.