Yet another day of transit!!!

We were up early and got our last in take of a Friends breakfast before getting on our coach for the I think it was a near 7 hour journey in the end, more down to the shear slowness of our drivers driving more than it actually needing to take that long!!!

We managed to get ourselves on the back row of the coach, so I personally got a load more leg room because I was sat in the middle, and Jade got slightly more leg room, as she wass sat next to the window. However I was sat in between a Malaysian who kept himself to himself, and I believe a German girl, and this is a big German girl, who thought that she should get preferences over arm space and leg space, but any hoo!!

The journey was ok, no major issues, and Jade managaed to meet a beautiful Swedish girl called Linnea on the bus, and we ended up getting a tuk tuk in to town with her when we arrived in Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang, by all accounts that I can see should be the capital of this country, but due to it's UNESCO World Hertidge status new buildings are restricted and therefore the dull "city" that is Vientiane was made the capital!! I that sentence I've basically summarised Luang Prabangs charm and draw, the fact that it is a World Hertidge sight, and it is so due to the mix of French colonial buildings, and the Laos/South East Asian style Wat(Temples) and other buildings. It has to be said it is a very beautiful city, and it's the first place we've found in this area of the world where wine is actually drunk by miore than one person at a time. Thats not the only French influence, the sea of baguettes on offer as well as some may be more subtler things.

When we got to the city it was already evening and after finding a guest house and showerin, we went out and had a look around the main street where basically everything is. Linnea had read in Lonely Planet that it may be possible to organise a home stay at someones house in a near by village through a travel agency, and we therefore went and had a look for one. When Jade and I joined her, half way through her negotiations she had organised to do it with one of the guys in a travel agency, privately rather than through the company. After retercancy on my part we both agred to go along with her. What was promised was- One meal, transportation to and from the village, one nights accomodation, and a days 'activities'!! for 100,000 kip, so about 11 pounds roughly. After agreeing all of that we went and got dinner, and had a little bit of alook around the night market, the majority of which was filled with silk and other material scarfs...the stalls looked great, and some easy present buying might of crossed our minds!!!

When we got back to the guet house later that evening we started playing cards on a table by the font door. One of the owners sons I believe he was, Aloo started watching us and we invited him to play. He had studied English and was playnig to move to China to study it some more, so it was good fun. He was exactly a fluent talker, but he could mainly understand us, and things. It was good fun.