Le Bel Air Boutique Resort Luang Prabang

... great grandparents<br>probably used &#8211; everything was done by hand no machines.<br><br><br><br>Being<br>out in the forests and passing by small villages we were amazed to<br>see electric power lines attached to the huts and some had satellite<br>dishes. We found out from some guides that electricity and cable are<br>fairly new (two years) to these villages and there are villages even<br>further up north that still do not have these amenities ...

... which by night turns into the site of the night market, a seemingly endless string of stalls selling a seemingly endless supply of silk fabrics, scarves, bags, purses, paintings, lampshades, and t-shirts to name but a few. Later, we ate grilled chicken and fish at a street stall and discovered the wonder of the yummy fruit shakes freshly blended at one of the many stalls at the night market.<br><br> We made a trip ...

... the drama ended; it was a boring night in a sleepy town that shut down completely at 11 o clock, the guesthouses posted curfew at the same time the power went out. The next morning we were up early for another 11 hours on the slow boat after which we finally arrived in Luang Prabang!<br><br>Lao itself is incredible, and to anyone considering going I cannot reccomment Luang Prabang (LPB) enough. The city itself is laidback and charming while the surrounding areas ...

... also on the bus with us. We ended up having to pay the guy in a minivan to take us the 3hour trip to LuangPrabang even though he was going that way anyway! Oh-well! We arrived at about 9pm at night, and straight away headed for the night market for some grub!<br><br>We are having an amazing time in LuangPrabang, Laos. This country is just so beautiful, we are enjoying it so much more then China. We have been here 5 days so far and plan on staying another 3 days, which is the ...

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... and we each paid $1 U.S. Hence, the guides at the border were dead wrong about being ripped off. It's been the cheapest place I've been on the trip thus far. That night we all went out for dinner and drinks at a restaurant in the village. This was my first experience of Lao-Lao (local whiskey). It was very strong and poured from a mystery bottle. The best part about Pak Beng was that the electricity in the village ...

... cool. A couple of times we had to stop to let the mud ox get out of the way. I slapped one on the ass when we drove by, he looked violated. <br> Once again I digress, sometimes we get another wave of backpackers that come in around 5ish from the 8 o'clock from Vientiane, the same bus I took. The evening usually involve dinner out on the town, and either vball, the disco, or the bowling ally. Which is a building with only about 5 lanes to bowl on, but it stays open late. The ...

... tickets and for us to tag along with him and change my plans for Luang Nam Tha. It didn't take much convincing and as i liked their company. So i decided to take the speedboat ticket, thus changing my destination completely. Now how silly did i feel? After advisng of the perils of the speedboat to the girls, i was readily jumping in their place. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE LOOK ON THIER FACEs WHEN WE ALL MET IN LUANG PRABANG, having ...

... we unloaded a bunch of boxes of food and other supplies. I wondered how often these supplies would be replenished. <br><br>In the evening we stopped at Pak Ben and I found a basic hotel room. The electricity here is from a generator and I fantasized about a hydro plant instead! It was so sweet when all ...

... I'm bad !" and cackle for some time like a witch.<br><br>Behind us sat a middle-aged couple (again German) that I argued with over whether my window should be open for most of the journey. Across the seat was an young Italian chap who, when smelling that the bus driver was smoking a cigarette, took it upon himself to insist that the bus was 'No smoking' (despite no signs saying so), and losing his temper in a way that Lao people seem to find slightly embarrassing yet faintly ...