Hello again, we are still in Laos which is definitely the prettiest country I have ever seen. There are very few towns, lots of mountains covered in bananas, papayas and countless other trees. The crystal rivers are surrounded by little gardens growing salad and veg in neat little rows.We have spent a few days in the north of the country, starting in Luang Prabeng a former capital. After travelling for countless hours on a bus passing only Lao stilt houses we arrived in Luang Prabeng to find what appears to be a French colonial town. The entire city is Unesco heritage listed so the beautiful wooden houses in narrow alleys have been preserved. Amongst all these buildings are lots of brightly coloured Buddhist Wat. There are loads of lovely hotels, but unfortunately everything was full and after lugging our bags round about 50 places we finally found a room. We were not overly impressed by the pink walls, toilet that refused to flush or lack of windows.During our short stay we visited the Pack Ou caves, where for some reason we couldn't fathom there are hundreds of Buddhas which have been left there by worshippers. It's a pretty touristy area with lots of small children selling very random things. For a dollar you can set free a small bird they have caught and put in a cage, or for about 20p you get yourself a small plain stone! We then got back in our boat and travelled to a small village to discover how to make Lao Lao (rice whiskey). Despite his recent injuries after consuming Lao Lao Jon is now planning a factory in our garden when we get home; all we need is a fire, rice, yeast and a steel drum. We then spent the afternoon visiting a small park with hundreds of waterfalls, which Jon admired so much he has taken 72 photos (don't worry, I won't let him make anyone sit through them when we return home).The following day we sat on yet another 8 hour bus trip and arrived in Phonosavan which is bit of a dusty one horse town, although it does have a great Chinese restaurant. The only real reason to visit is to see the bizarre Plain of Jars. The plain of jars is on several sites each containg over 100 stone jars between 1m and 3m tall. The jars are about 2500 years old and no-one is really sure exactly what the purpose of these jars is, although of course there are countless theories. The 3 sites are surrounded by pine trees; whilst driving past a French man on our trip informed us this is where pineapples come from. Next time you're in a forest look up, you might get lucky. Sadly the entire province is the most heavily bombed areas in Laos and there are thousands of UXOs across the country causing great danger and economic hardship to the residents. Farmers are unable to expand their fileds for fear of finding an unexploded cluster weapon and consequently this is one of the poorest areas in the country. Another problem is the scrap metal value of the bombs causing some residents to risk their lives disabling and dismantling UXO to add to their income. In addition the stunning countryside is scarred with huge bomb craters, which even 30 years later still lack in vegetation.Jon's nose is healing you'll all be pleased to know.