The decision to head north was a bit of the spur of the moment decision as the weather had been poor and really prevented us from doing the things we wanted to do in VV. As a result we were not very organised in getting ourselves together for the bus trips to Luang Prabang and ended waiting at the bus terminal to see what was on offer. When we say bus terminal, we mean the hut on the side of the road! Thankfully a local family, who were on route to LP in their minibus, decided to make a bit of extra cash and stopped on the way through Vang Vieng and we hopped aboard. At least it didn't mean that we had to risk life and limb on one of the local bus's (the condition of which you would only find in a scrap yard in the UK) or worse still be forced to watch another episode of Friends by staying longer in VV. There are only so many Chandler Bing jokes you can take!. The journey was the greatest bone shaker we have experienced so far. The road varied between reasonable tarmac and then quicklly gave way to rubble and mud, which even in a normal car is not easy to navigate. The persistent rain also made the drive through the twists and turns of the mountains even more precarious and our bodies were very grateful when we reached or destination 6 hours later. The whole thing was a very odd experience as none of the other people in the car could speak English and we don't speak Laos or Chinese - if this is the sign of things to come we will have to practice our hand signals a bit more (how do you make "I need a pee" not look rude?) En route, along notorious route 13, we saw our first evidence of the guerilla activity that we have heard so much about. Two years ago a number of locals and tourists were killed on this road, on their way to LP, as a number of buses were hijacked and people were caught in the crossfire - the local Mong tribe are not happy with the development of the road through their lands and have decided to take things into their own hands. Thankfully the government seems to have quelled this in the recent past. The scenes would not have been misplaced on CNN as we passed numerous teenagers with assault rifles slung over their shoulders - each wearing at least a portion of an army uniform if they could not afford the whole lot. Thankfully none of them were interested in our little minibus. Then, wouldn't you know it, about an hour outside our destination, our little minibus broke down in a small village. But these are resourceful people and out of nowhere the driver produced what seemed like a full set of spare parts and a tool kit that wouldn't have been out of place in Kwik Fit. Within half an hour we were back on our way but not until we had given the local kids something to giggle about. We've learned a bit of the Laos language and took the opportunity to have a few words with the locals whilst we waited. They think it is hysterical that westerners should try and say 'hello' in their own language. Luang Prabang has turned out to be something of a pleasant surprise. Nestling quietly on the banks of the Mekong river it is an eclectic mix of Loas and French architecture - a throwback to its recent colonial history. The biggest change though has been the pace of life. Things have really slowed down here and there hasn't been any evidence of the chaos prevalent in the south or other Asian contries. So the last few days have been spent chilling out and soaking up the atmosphere that this place has to offer (yes, we know that it seems like all we do is chill out!). Once again we have visited a number of the buddhist temples in the town, which again are much less grand than the ones in Thailand and saw our first statue of a giant reclining buddha, which are very rare. We also took a trip to the Pak Ou caves, just outside of town, which are one of the earliest examples of a Buddhist temple in Laos. It is thought that the first settlers came south from China as early as the 8th century and developed the Pak Ou temple which is nestled inside a cave on the west bank of the Mekong river. It is quite literally a shrine with over 4000 images of buddha planted on the altars of the cave, by the local people, some of which date back to the 18/19th century. This also used to serve as the site of Royal worship, though those days are long gone since the revolution of the mid '70's. We decided to step the pace up yesterday and took a kayak down the river. As the stronger of the 2 of us, Chris was instructed to sit in the back so that we had great steering capability when we came through the rapids. Unfortunatley this also meant that Carol could not see what else Chris was doing as she paddled through the calmer waters (the answer is nothing - as he lay back and had a rest - doesn't that sound familiar!). The scenery was beautiful and it was a peaceful way to spend the day. For the most part, we were able to handle the rapids, but on one occasion, we were a little bit out of control and ended doing down the rapids backwards! Along the way, we saw lots of water buffalo coming to drink in the river or even get fully in an cool down. We stopped at a couple of the remote villages enroute and got to see the way of life; villagers making decorative paper for lanterns, fishing pots, whisky based drinks, weaving and even novice monks making rockets for New Year by hammering gunpowder into a launch tube. One of the key reasons we have decided to stay around here for a while is that we are approaching the Buddhist New Year on the 14/15/16th of April. We missed our own earlier this year so thought we would take advantage whilst here. LP is one of the main towns that people flock to to experience this extraordinary festival and the town grows from a modest 30,000 to a teaming 100,000 people for just a few days. The main celebration is for everyone to clean everything in readiness for the New Year - houses are spring cleaned, Buddha statues are washed and buildings are hosed down. This has extended to people over the last few years and there is now a tradition of throwing water over every passer by - all with the aim of ensuring they are clean, you understand. Farangs (foreigners) don't escape this hosing down and we have already been soaked a few times whilst riding in the back of a touk touk (open sided taxi). But it is all good fun and we are looking forward to the main event in a few days time. Before then we are going to head up the river in a slow boat to a very small village called Nong Khiaw, a journey which will show us some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole of Laos.