Nam Khan Villas Resort Luang Prabang

... on top of the bull also makes you appreciate how big elephants actually are, when one see food and makes a run for it, you realise you are a very long way of the ground!

After walking them through the day we took our two new friends to bathe, this turned out to be more fun than the day before as soon as the elephants entered the river they sucked up water with their trunks and sprayed us with it, what an experience! The only way we could ...

...Ben bouddha doit etre laotien !!
Je sais, je sais,ce n<est pas vrai (il serait indien, parrait-il). Mais, ce soir, comme le veux la petite routine que je me suis fait depuis que je suis arrive a Luang Prabang, je suis allee ecouter les chants des moines au temple qui est juste devant mon Guest house (auberge). Et puis, c<est en regardant la figure de l<enorme statue de bouddah qu<il y avait devant moi que je me suis fait cette reflexion.

Un air si ...

... 1493;אנחנ 93; שטנו באמצע. הערתי את סב ושנינ 93; חיפשנ 93; את מקור הרעש ללא הצלחה.
ופתאו
501; ראינו או ...

... a light breakfast we were back on the slow boat for another 7 hours. This day was worse than the first day as more locals were aboard and the boat was packed. We nearly tipped a couple times and people were scattered everywhere from the floors to on top of the roof. Again though, the scenery was surreal. Finally, around 5 pm we arrived in Luang Prabang. After walking around for about 20 minutes, I found some people ...

... enforces a curfew here at midnight. Bars and restaurants close at 11:30 as to give people ample time to get home and go to bed. The government realizes the amount of money that tourists bring, so they allow western places like the bowling alley to stay open. So tourist also, are allowed to be out past midnight, as long as they aren't acting ridiculously drunk and stupid.
I got to witness both the disco and the bowling alley in the same night one time hanging out with ...

... bottom of a particularly steep hill. After a brief stop every one was fit and well to continue! There was also an incident with a snake, when Bushwhacker (Dom West) cycled over the top of it making custard like mess on the road! Finally after many hills we reached the river that we were required to cross in order to get to the Buddha caves!! With many impressive sweat patches especially from Bigfoot (Will Hebditch) and the Scotsman ...

... were spent breathing in diesel fumes whilst sweating profusely. I managed to find some dirty floor space and fell asleep for three hours, easing the pain somewhat. It was a hellish journey and no amount of stunning scenery could make up for it that day. There were plenty of smiles when the boat finally docked that afternoon.
Luang Prabang was not your typical Laos, for sure, and as we marched up a hill into town we were stunned at this mini ...

... few times for breakdowns (the boat, not the passengers) and also for lunch, where 'weed' was offered by the waiters. Tempting given the dangers of the day, but not my thing.
We safely made it to Luang Prabang. We eventually met up with the girls after thier 13 hour bus journey (my guilt ever increasing). Well i got a bit of stick and jokes and quips were passed back and forth, but all was taken light heartedly and i paid them (at a slightly ...

... I hope!

We'll just have to buy another memory card in Hong Kong when we get there in a few weeks, and forget about the lost photos. It looks like it will remain risky to load photos from the card onto the virus-prone PCs that we have to use, so I might not be able to load any more photos up for a while.

I'm not sure what to do because the photos ...

... in rural Laos) and/or consecrated ground, so we regretfully decided to pack up and leave. The boy seemed pleased with our decision and indicated for us to follow him. This we did for some fifteen minutes along trails through jungly undergrowth that eventually ejected us onto the steep path leading down to the base of the waterfall. We followed him downwards, ever curious as to where he was leading us. He urged us on with small gestures and impatiently tapped his foot as he waited ...