After an epic drive of about 9 hours we finally arrived in Luang Prabang. We had travelled up mountains, down mountains, along roads more akin to dirt-tracks, snaked through winding, twisting roads and passed tiny villages of wooden huts. The views were absolutely stunning: just rolling mountains thick with lush vegetation. It was a huge relief to finally arrive and about 1 hour ahead of time (thanks to some quality driving by Mr Luck). We had a lazy night consisting of a few hours downtime, a late tea and bed.

The next day we headed into the centre of Luang Prabang, which is actually a UNESCO world heritage site. It was a rainy, dull day although still humid and stifling. Our day started with a tour of the Laos Palace Museum. We were de-shoe-d at the door and taken round what used to be the palace inhabited by the Laos Royal Family. The contrast between rooms was striking: some were opulent and elaborate in their decor (particularly in the use of gold leaf and glass mosaics) while others were very simple and modest (generally the bedrooms/living quarters).

Following this we entered the nearby Wat (Buddhist Temple). It was a stunning, grand building intricate in it's design with a curved multi-layered roof, carved ngars (lucky snakes for protection) and bright colours. We were impressed. From here, Brett, our guide, gave us a tour of the town pointing out all the essentials (good restaurants, ATMs, etc) and giving us some history on the place before depositing us by the river to explore the place for ourselves. This included venturing into an old Wat with original paintings, browsing shops and stores and hanging about by the river.

Luang Prabang is very chilled out and relaxed - just what we needed after the bustle of China. Laos is a former French colony and the influence is still evident: vintage European cars parked outside the more exclusive hotels, lots of cafes, good imported wines and bakeries with nice bread and goodies. We headed into 1 of these said bakeries for a drink and cake: lemon pudding cake and apple pudding cake to be exact - and yes, they did manage to create something that was both pudding and cake - we were on a dessert and sugar high for hours (our last dessert had been cricket ball cake in Fiji - an offensive weapon capable of smashing windows, dinting cars and causing physical injury).

The major highlight of Luang Prabang was the night market. There were loads of textiles, carved items, general stuff and unfortunately, bottles containing snakes/insects pickled in whiskey (apparently drinkable). It was very different to the hard sell and hard bartering of China: the people started with a fair price and still came down further. We didn't actually haggle as the prices were very cheap and amounted to pence in UK money - it didn't seem right. We picked up various stuff and could have bought more.

We had a really good time in Luang Prabang: the food and shopping was good, the people lovely and the place chilled and pretty.
Kelly and Mike