Le Parasol Blanc Luang Prabang

... with them consisted of a riding them whilst our mahouts bellowed instructions at them, riding them and issuing instructions ourselves (which were all ignored) and finally and most fun, bathing the elephants. This consisted of riding them into the river and ending up equally as drenched as the elephants but I loved every minute of it.

The following day we were up at sunrise to bathe the elephants once again. Unfortunately one of the biggest and ...

... and humane practices. Employment in ethical tourism ventures will create work that is less physically demanding, ecologically sound and provide sustainable incomes for mahout families living and working with elephants.

About 100 domestic elephants participated in this year’s festival, and the following photos are some of the highlights that we saw at the festival:

... 1488;וחר מידי. כעת היתה לנו סירה שקועה לצד הנהר מכוסה מים. את התיקי 01; וסל האוכל עוד הוצאנ 93; ב ...

... 1512; שנים היה קו סירות לואנג פרבאנ 90;- ויאנג 96;יאן אבל הכביש החדש שנבנה הוזיל משמעו 14;ית את ה ...

... My knees were killing me, I tried to squirm and wiggle away from the pain and the next thing I know I'm sitting with my back to the person beside me at the table and the bottom of my feet are pointing towards the food on the ground. Pheung has joined us by this time and a woman says something to her and they both look at my feet. I quickly correct my sitting situation, and feel bad for possibly offending the people that live in the house. Later Pheung told me that she was ...

... kids doing in the states. They don't need adults holding their hands and saying don't get in the way of trucks on the road. I assume they're mature enough to realize not to get in the way of trucks. As soon as they're old enough to help the family they do. Part of me began to feel bad for the kids because I was thinking that they lose their childhoods. But they don't. I see kids playing kataw, swimming, and acting goofy all the time. They just get the concept of "work ...

... and whilst I woke up early and wrote a note to Kate and Ronan simply stating "I’m dying", I managed to go back to bed for a few hours before we ventured out for a (very) late breakfast.

I am convinced that only backpackers can walk together through the streets of a town draped in ponchos like it’s the most natural thing in the world, when at home you’d be accused of looking like the killer in “I Know What You Did Last Summer” ...

... too?!
So, i enjoyed the late afternoon and sunset over the Mekong as i sat on the roof top terrace of the hotel. Here is where everything was to change for the forth coming weeks. I was (as usual) minding my own business with a book, when a dred-locked sporting Kiwi (white guy) asked if he could sit with me. No problem and we had a pleasant enough chat over a beer Laos (good beer and lucky so, as its the only brand available in this country ...

... walked back into the centre of town, which was a nice walk.

The Mekong side is VERY touristy, and the other side, 10 mins walk in the opposite direction, is extremely untouristy, which is great. It's always good to see how the locals really live.

The sun came out again as we made our way home, passing a few temples like this one:



I've ...

... lush if a bit steep at 10,000 Kip, and Katie went for a bit of Beer Lao action... it was a bit of a splurge, but the restaurants here look amazing, even if the prices are the highest we've seen in the country so far.

We had every intention of going back to the guest house, showering, having a 'kip' (boom boom) and then ...