The Chang Heritage Hotel Luang Prabang

... with areas to swim in the lagoons as well as a Bear Sanctuary where they rehabilitated Bears that had been rescued at the border when people had tried to smuggle them out. Was a really nice area although my legs ached after from all the uphill walking!!<br><br>Tomorrow we are due to get up at 5am and go to where the monks come out of the temples in order to offer them food. Am really looking forward to it apart from the ridiculously early start!!

... Plus<br>even though it is a tourist area &#8211; no one is harassing you &#8211; the<br>local residents are content doing their own routine. Moreover, it's<br>quiet &#8211; no honking motorbikes &#8211; you can hear the monks chant and<br>there is a 11:30 pm curfew here for the residents. There are<br>blooming, fragrant trees everywhere and watching the monks glide by<br>barefoot in their bright robes invokes a ...

We reached the end of our meandering journey on the Mekong at the sleepy city of Luang Prabang. The city &#8211; with a population of 26000 I use the term loosely &#8211; is a delightful mixture of ancient Lao and colonial French architecture, so far managing to avoid modernisation or development in concrete and glass. The buildings are beautifully preserved, despite the years of bitter conflict that have ravaged the ...

... br>I took the "slow boat" from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, Lao, a two day trip down the Mekong river on one of these longboats. At first the boat ride was great-backpackers lounged together, drinking BeerLao and playing cards as the day went by; the day was largely uneventful but super relaxing. A group of us were hanging out near the front of the boat, feet dangling off the side, watching the water go by, when we saw a huge pig corpse float by. Totally grossed out, we ...

... we visited a Wat and rode around the outskirts of the town. We also climbed to a Wat on the top of a hill and saw some stunning views over the countryside of Luang Prabang Province. In the evening we looked around the extensive night market and I bought a beer Lao T-shirt. We went for a few drinks but all the bars close at 11pm, so we went to the only place which stays open till 2am which is the local bowling alley. We shared a lane and had a couple of games with an Israeli ...

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... go eat. Goofy looking animals. More agile looking than a bear, almost similar to a monkey. They look 80% bear, 20% monkey to me with long arms and thin torsos. We watched them play for a while then continued to the falls, we could hear the water gushing through the forest. About 30 people were around the bottom pool. The water was blue and somewhat clear. The air coming off of the water was chilly. We wondered up the waterfall to see the big fall. After a 15 minute walk up a ...

... br>Then low and behold, who happens to stroll on the roof, no other than 3 Australians (1 guy and 2 girls, all already friends from home) and as some sort of magnet that my table seemed to have, they asked if they could join. After several beers later, the laughs began and i knew that i had been here before (read Java travel pod for that example). In the process of the night we all discussed onward plans into Laos. All of the 4 that had joined ...

... options seemed to be simple. Either I could leave Laos a month later smelling like festering soft cheese (Michelle was not fond of this option), or I would have to find some other way of washing. I noticed that a lot of the locals wash in the river each evening so, having decided there were no strange taboos that forbade me from doing so, I decided to copy them. So, each evening just before sunset I would wander down to the river, select a nice quiet spot where the bank wasn't too ...