Day 6 Luang Prabang. Our final day before we fly out tomorrow to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Temperatures are still on the low side, a bearable 30 degrees, so the rain of yesterday seems to have cleared the air. We were picked up after breakfast for a 2 hour boat ride up the Mekong to visit the Pak Out caves, a small cave where local Buddhists have hidden statues of Buddha every time their country was invaded by hostile countries/religions. Over the centuries some ...

Day 5 Luang Prabang. The day dawned cloudy after heavy rain overnight. It looks like 'being officially hot' has been cancelled for today. Today is a 'at leisure day' (Julie has reminded me that I need to read the dictionary definition of leisure). I have planned a quick hop over the overside of the Mekong to see true village life. After negotiating for the boat across the river with a local fisherman (the trip across the river that is and not purchasing the wh...

Day 4 Luang Prabang. Day 4 dawned hazy and hot (isn't it always here). Apparently the haziness is typical for this time of year as local farmers 'slash and burn' their fields after harvest. The day started early at 5.30am when we watched a procession of 200 brightly orange robed monks collecting alms for themselves although in reality most is distributed onward to the poor. Then we had a quick tour of our first (of many) temple, followed by a tour of a local m...

Day 3 Luang Prabang. Staying at the Villa Chitdara. Another day, another country. Today we moved onto Laos, Luang Prabang. We had an early morning pick up for transfer to Hanoi airport. Our flight was on time and in an hour we had arrived in Laos, which a mere 6 degrees warmer at 32 degrees (Apparently on the cool side). Our visa on arrival took a fraction of the time that Vietnam took, helped by us filling in the form in advance allowing us to jump the queue a...