Luang Prabang

As soon as we reached Luang Prabang we fell in love with the place. Laos was a French colony in the past and it was evident as soon as we got off the boat and started strolling around town. Most of the buildings may be slightly crumbly and there is a definite lack of money around the place (Luang Prabang got it's first and only ATM last year) but you can see the French influence everywhere; from the shutters on the windows to the baguettes at the street market to the local tuk tuk drivers playing Boules while waiting for a fare. It really is a case of East meets West here and the people are unbelievably laid back. It makes the pace of life in Kerry seem like New York!

We've spent such a relaxing few days here, wandering around the streets, eating real "Western" food - such a treat! We hired bikes and cycled around the area which seems to be the way most people get around here. We saw whole families going past on bikes and mopeds! Watching all the locals standing in the river fishing with their nets we can really feel the pace of life going so slowly, and we thought Thailand was relaxed! Here we're actually able to walk the length of a street without being approached by 50 people trying to sell us anything they can.

We took a trip up Phou Si which is a hill in the centre of town with a temple on top and the view from up there was lovely; we were able to see the Mekong river stretch and wind its way into the distance on one side and the Nam Khong snaking its way along on the other.

We've also had a few nice meals out and drinks with the Canadians that we met on the boat, but the nights have ended quite early as everything apart from the bowling alley closes at 11pm!

One of the days we all took a tuk tuk up to Kuang Si waterfall. There was a black bear sanctuary at the start with quite a few bears that had been orphaned by poachers and there was also a tiger (they were kept apart which is probably for the best!). We had a really nice afternoon swimming at all the waterfalls and pools and cooling down from the humidity.

Apart from that its just been a case of relaxing and soaking up the nice atmosphere. Tomorrow morning, we're leaving Laos and flying to Siem Reap in Cambodia going to check out the Tomb Raider place, if I'm really lucky Angelina will be back there visiting.....