The winner so far!

Yes, it's official, Luang Prabang is the nicest town we've been to so far on our travels. And Laos may well have surpassed Cambodia as our favourite country.

Breakfast by the Mekong

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about Laos that is so fantastic, because there isn't actually that much to do here...or maybe that's just it. Nobody is racing around doing all the "sights"; everyone is content just being here. Not to mention the people are just lovely and the scenery is beautiful. After the hustle and bustle of Vietnam (which of course was great, but a bit tiring at times!)it's the perfect place for us to relax and have a holiday from our holiday!!

We departed Vang Vieng after our night on the town boogieing with the Laotians - we went to 2 different nite clubs,the first of which was just like a school disco with strobe and flashing coloured lights, except only boys were dancing to the blaring Lao pop! Then they put on Blue (UK boy band for those not in the know!)and suddenly a group of girls jumped on the dance floor and started doing a peculiar kind of line dance, which the boys clumsily tried to follow. All very entertaining. The next place we went to was a lot bigger and more like a western niteclub so we stayed and boogied for a while, the 8 of us were the only non-Lao there but no one really noticed, they were too caught up in the music, screaming everytime the DJ announced the next song and proceeding to dance vigourously, while the non-dancers lurked around the edges but participated by singing loudly to every song! A fun night was had by all...

Kuang Si waterfall

We've had 3 1/2 lazy days in Luang Prabang, and it's such a nice place. Surrounded by hills and on the banks of the Mekong and another river (Nam So? can't remember), it's a World Heritage city, and there are beautiful golden wats (temples)everywhere, along with palm trees, and big french villas with large windows with wooden shutters. Yesterday we hired bikes and visited some of the wats, and chatted a bit with the friendly young monks. We also went to the Royal Palace museum, as Luang Prabang used to be home to the Laotion royal family. To finish,we climbed to the top of a hill in the middle of the town, which has a wat at the top, to watch the sunset over the Mekong. Lovely.

Main street Luang Prabang

Our first day here we hired a jumbo (Lao version of a tuk tuk)with Emi,a Japanese girl we first met kayaking at Vang Vieng,and Noa, and Israeli girl we met at the bakery having breakfast, and went to Kuang Si waterfall,which we'd been advised not to miss. Sure enough, it was beautiful and had lots of tiers. We climbed up to the top to see the source, then cooled off in the lovely blue pools at the bottom. We also visited Phet, a tiger who was rescued from a poacher when she was a cub and now lives in an enclosure mainly as a tourist attraction, which was a little sad. She was beautiful though and I got to touch her paw (don't worry,her keeper told me to do it! And it was sticking out from under the cage bars...)

Noa, Emi and Ali at the waterfall

We are spending the next two days on a slow boat first to Pakbeng,then to the Thai border - there is a one-day speedboat option, but even the travel agents say its dangerous so we're opting for the slower version, which will hopefully be a scenic trip and more in the relaxed Lao spirit of doing things!

Today's our last day here, boo hoo, so we're taking it easy (just for a change!),we had a leisurely brunch followed by an hour long Lao massage (painful but good!)and I imagine the afternoon will be equally as strenuous!

We're definitely pleased we included Laos in our SE Asian adventures - at one point we were considering flying straight from Hanoi to Chiang Mai in Thailand (due to time constraints) but everyone we talked to insisted Laos was worth making time for, and they were right. Definitely come here if you're doing SE Asia and allow more time than we have if you can (the south is supposed to be great as well)- you won't want to leave! (we don't! :( )

Phet the tiger

View from the palace