We were supposed to wake at 05:45 but Clive miss-set his alarm which went off at 4:45. We are really getting to like these pre-dawn wake-ups, I don't think! Tuk a tuk tuk down to the boat landing, arriving in plenty of time, but the boat delayed departure for 40 min awaiting one last passenger who, in the end, never turned up so we left without him or her. Could have had another hour in bed! Unasked and unexpectedly the hotel provided us with a breakfast box each...

Just to keep in practice we awoke again before dawn and walked to the Wats to watch the monks receive their morning alms. Again we had mixed feelings about a traditional rite becoming a tourist attraction. At each of the temples there is information in many languages informing people how to behave (basically just to be respectful) but, of course, it doesn't work. About a third of the people get right in the face of the monks and let off their flashes. It's hard t...

At last, a lie in and leisurely breakfast. We decided to postpone the dawn alms procession of monks until tomorrow morning at 5:30. A very leisurely stroll around the streets of LP. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and, unlike some others, is not a disappointment. Apart from the many wats (temples) there are some 400 traditional Lao and French colonial era buildings, which have been well restored, most of which are now restaurants, galleries and guest houses wh...

As there are no direct flights from Phonsavanh to Luang Prabang and flying via Vientiane would involve stopping overnight we are travelling by road today. We alerted the staff at "Faulty Towers" that we would like breakfast at 7:00 and that we would appreciate fresh bread rolls (as they tried to fob us off the morning before by serving us stale cake-like Asian sliced bread until we spied another staff member ride up with fresh rolls which we then insisted on). We...

We survived the night in the "auberge" and set off on our tour of the enigmatic Plain of Jars which has a two-fold interest. The first and obvious interest is that the area has 60 odd locations scattered about on hillsides and hilltops with huge stone jars that have been quarried out of rock and left to puzzle tourists 2,000 years later. You can just imagine the instigator of the project having a chuckle and saying "in 2,000 years this is going to be a great tour...