Our final stop in Laos was Luang Prabang where we spent around a week taking in the World Heritage city. We had a bit of time left over so that was the reason for staying a week but it's a great place to waste time. We actually arrived at the perfect time as the city was preparing for a big light festival to mark the end of the rainy season. All the little surrounding villages and some within the city made boats and decorated them brightly before going on a procession through the city centre and down to the river to race them. We met a lovely English girl called Nicole and a few friendly Germans so we joined the parade all the way down to the river. It was an amazing experience, everyone in the city must've been out and there were fireworks going off everywhere - manic! It turned out to be a great start to our time in the city.

One of the main tourist attractions in Luang Prabang is a couple of temples located on the top of a huge hill right in the middle of town. We went up with Nicole and it took a while to ascend the 400 or so steps but was well worth it. The panoramic views showed literally the whole of Luang Prabang including the airport and most of its larger temples. We went up at sunset too which made it all the more spectacular. The descent allowed us to see dozens of different Buddhas dotted around the hills which were really beautiful. Dan and I ended up going to the top later in the week too in full daylight just so we could get an even better look at the views and relics.

Another day we rented push bikes again which is one of the best ways to see any city in Laos. We cycled through the big market on the edge of town and up a few hills to see some lovely views of the mountains in the distance. It would've been even more impressive if we hadn't already been to the Phu Sy temples at the top of the big hill. It was a good day of exercise too as none of the bikes in Laos seem to have any gears! Other days we spent catching up on some reading by the river which was extremely relaxing. The city itself is really beautiful with a lot of French style houses and no high rise hotels at all. It seems that when an area gets World Heritage status it stops too much development happening which in turn retains a lot of the character of cities like Luang Prabang as well as those like Hoi An in Vietnam which is also on the World Heritage list. The food was also great in the city, we ate at the market quite a few nights which did cheap buffets with lots of delicious local veg. These buffets were set up along small side streets on the side of the big night market that sets up every evening. It was always a treat to walk through the market at night as it was just so peaceful with all the local people sat around selling things like clothing materials and handcrafts. We bought a few things but space in our bags was more of a factor than the price!

We now move over the border and back to Chiang Mai to see a bit more of the city before we fly to Sydney. Last time we were in Chiang Mai we only really did the trekking so it will be good to see more of the place as what we did see looked fantastic!