March 10th (Tuesday) - Day 10 - Luang Prabang

Breakfast was delivered to our balcony so we sat outside on the cusions while we ate it.We headed into town and went to the arts and culture museum.The place was really good but the guide went on a bit. We then had an hour in a jumbo to our destiniation. If I have not said what a jumbo is; its a pick up truck that has seats in the back. So needless to say it was slightly uncomfortable after an hour. However it was worth it for the destination. Firstly we went to a bear sanctury where they have rescued bears from the baile trade. They where playing and running about - it was so cute :). Next we came across a number of blue pools. We walked to the top to find an awsume waterfall - the biggest I have ever seen, but as it was the dry season not much water was flowing. You could climb to the top but I did not find this out until afterwards. We walked back to the pools and jumped in. It was so cold but really refreshing at the same time. On the way back the bears were being fed. After lunch in the mountains we had to do the hour jumbo ride back to town. We wondered around town and when we got back Lisa had realised she'd lost her purse back a few stops. She has lost about 300 quid but to the locals thats a years wages! We ate dinner by the river before going to a seedy bar. We played pool and SG and I were the champions. Lisa and Tom had no chance. The table was terrible but it was still fun.

March 11th (Wednesday) - Day 11 - Luang Prabang

We spent the day with some elephants.Breakfast on the balcony followed by a bus ride down a really dusty road. We arrived by the river and took a boat over to the village on the other side. We changed into our marhoot costumes (elephant driver/hearder) and headed back to where we started. We walked up the hill with the other 20 or so people and meet the elephants up close. There were about 10 elepants including a huge male which towered about the rest and a baby one about 5 years old. They were constantly eating. They were led around to a platform were we jumped on. They had seat on the back which Sarah and I jumped into and Tom sat on the neck. Of course we got the large male who was very playful. It was a long way down and we were not seated very tightly. We set off into the jugle. I was starting to get used to it until we started going down hill. It was so hard to hang on. Tom on the front was really struggling. After an hour we reached the river. This was great fun as the elephants were splashing and we got soaked. We got back to where we started and had lunch. After lunch we had a lession in how to control them ourselves. Pi Pi Pi was walk, si si si was go left etc. We then had to take control of the elephants ourselves.Sarah went first and the elephant ignored her most the time hehe. It was then my go. I had to jump out the seat and sit on its neck. I was so scared i forgot all my commands. Some how we made it back to the start but i was clinging for my life. This of course made the whole thing really good fun :). As soon as we got off we jumped back on and led the elephants down to the river. We crossed to the other side and the marhoots removed the seats and we jumped on the necks to lead them to the river. They of course loved it. They were splashing about and submerging themselfs in the water, they then squarted us with there trunks. We got soaked and it was so much fun. We then took them out into the forest were they slept for the night. To get back to the village we had a rubber ring to float down the river in. The problem was the river was so low that we did not move. So we had to paddle.This took ages!!! Once we were back we got changed and headed back to the guest house. We nipped into town for dinner and then sat outside at the guest house playing cards.

March 12th (Thursday) - Day 12 - Luang Prabang

Was so nice to wake up in the same place for a 3rd morning after moving about so much. However we had to pack and move on. Breakfast on the balcony again before getting picked up and taken to the local airport. It was a tiny airport with just 2 gates. Everything was scanned as we entered the terminal. We were called up 10 mins before the flight was due to take off but we still left on time - beat that Ryanair! It was only a 40minute flight and we landed in Vientiane. I went for a wonder around this unlikly capital city. It was so quite and laid back. We went for dinner as a group and afterwards headed for a beer garden. On the walk back to the hotel we meet some randoms in a shop front who were on a 40 day break and had a chat with them before heading back.