So down in Vang Viang I am, after a very pleasant three nights in Luang Prabang. LP is situated pretty much in the middle of the main bulk of Laos, and has hung onto its French colonial feel in a big way - the architecture, cafes and boulangeries were very reminiscent of a village 'en Bretagne', but the vast numbers of locals playing petanque as the afternoons drew to a close was something I had not been expecting!
Having decided I'd had my fill of hiking for the time-being, I lazed around LP, relaxing with a few other Brits I'd met at the awesome all-you-can-fit-on-a-plate-vegetarian-buffet-for-only-5000Kip-or-should-I-say-50-cents?, and checking out the nearby waterfalls, complete with natural pools for swimming. Sweeeet. Bels and Holly, thank you for a most entertaining couple of days.
The other Brit I met and chilled with was a dude named Peter....who reminded me in mannerisms and looks (save the slightly more modest hairstyle) of David Lawne Esq. so much, I could barely believe they weren't related...anyway, I digress...Peter is travelling from Japan (where he lived for 2 years) back to England, by bicycle. I was impressed. So far having been through Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, he is next to go through China again, Tibet, Nepal and India. A mammoth journey I felt, and, while some of you may be thinking I am once again digressing, I say hats off.
Anywho, a final night in LP and then a minibus, cramped beyond belief, for the 7 hour journey to Vang Viang, where I finally got around to uploading some photos. Check out the single photo in the Thailand - Bangkok album to see someone with no shoes on and dreadlocks still attaining some sort of level of smartness. Smooooth.
This avo will see me tubing - sitting in a tractor tyre and floating down the swollen Mekong, rapids and all, calling in at various riverside and floating bars along the way - an experience I've been told not to miss. Then tomorrow twill be down to Paxse in the far south, and the 4000 islands. Awesome. Love to all, hope you're well.