Today we woke early at about seven ish but were feeling pretty lazy. We were debating a cycle out to the 'blue lagoon' but on researching a bit further we thought otherwise. It was going to cost to hire the bikes... Cross the bridge... Entrance... Torch hire.. Potential guide and so on and we weren't that desperate to see it that we wanted to spend the money. I instead wanted to go shopping!!!

We headed out early and headed to our old haunt for breakfast and it was yummy! Maybe because it was Sunday or maybe because of my love of bacon but I had been having the biggest craving for a salty bacon and scrambled egg baguette and wow it did not disappoint... It was huge and washed down with a banana smoothie. Steven had fried eggs on his baguette and looked equally satisfied. Over breakfast we got chatting to a couple who looked like they had been on the travelling circuit a while... Instead of buying tee shirts or magnets this guy got a tattoo from every country he had visited. He was pleasant enough and had plenty of advice on Lao and Vietnam, he was organising a tubing session today and invited us along.

We chatted for a while before leaving them to it and heading back to the hotel to decide what to do today... We were both pretty sluggish now after our huge breakfast and as bad as it sounds we couldn't be bothered to cycle in the now unbearable heat. We opted instead to grab the guidebooks and the iPad and head to the river front to plan our next few weeks. We walked slowly through the streets stopping off at a bracelet shop I had seen the other day and headed in. The shop is owned by a chap who sells bracelets, spoons, chopsticks, bottle openers and so on made from the aluminium of the bombs and planes that fell over Lao. Lao was brutally bombed during the Vietnam war by American troops and to this day over 80 million bombs and mines remain scattered around northern Lao. The money from the bracelets and such go directly o the villagers in his region and to assist in the clearing of the mines.

I bought one as I thought they were nice and the cause is good, its a simple bracelet but says a lot... I also convinced Steven to buy a pretty little bottle of Lao whisky. We then wandered to the small restaurant we went to last night and fell onto the big cushioned platform that sat waiting for us. We ordered a beerLao and lounged back watching some family guy while planning the next leg of our trip. We had been to buy bus tickets to Luang Prabang on the way home from breakfast so knew that was our next destination. I then did some research on the town and planned loads of sights and activities for us... I'm kinda looking forward to some sightseeing after our downtime. Meanwhile Steven was planning how we would get to Vietnam and what route to take around Lao. We had decided to skip the four thousand islands as they are a huge distance away and much the same as Pai or Vang Vieng, plus I cant do any more lounging.

We stayed for an hour or so and Steven had some lunch (tuna baguette of course) before we paid up and took a slow walk back to the hostel. I was wanting to get souvenirs so we hit the shop on route where we bought a really nice beerLao tee shirt for Steven and the obligatory and very chavvy tubing vest for me. The main reason I wanted one is for the sheer factor everyone owns one and we have spent many a moment laughing at these tee shirts and vests as we have spotted them around asia... I really couldn't leave without buying one, even if its only destined to be a pyjama top. After our purchases we headed back to the hostel to pack (our bus leaves at 8.30am tomorrow) but instead got sidetracked with FaceTime. We had a lovely catch up with our cousin Virginia and my sister Hannah... It was lovely to chat on a lazy Sunday morning for them and afternoon for us.

After catching up we headed out for an early dinner... We went to our fave place over on the island and I ordered curry vegetable rice topped with fried egg and Steven the chicken noodle soup, washed down of course with banana and strawberry shakes. We slowly ate while enjoying the late afternoon sun which was warming our skin and listening to the laughter of the local children who were playing noisily in the river, splashing and jumping on each other. Soon enough we were ready to take a slow stroll home and we found ourselves finally packing up our things... Again. Then Steven decided that finally its time to bite the bullet and get his hair cut down the street. He headed off and literally ten mins later reappeared a new man, I thought he had changed his mind but it turned out she was just that quick... No small talk and cups of tea there.

Now we are packing the final little bits and looking forward to a quiet night, Steven is reading and there are a couple of films we want to see later so have decided on a quiet one before our early start tomorrow.