Now that we are well and truly in Laos, let us tell you a little bit about Laos. Laos is one of the poorest nations on earth (in the top 20), but economically its enjoying a healthy growth in a difficult global climate. We couldn't wait to go to Laos as its known for its friendly locals and laissez faire attitude (It's supposed to be scam free in comparison to its neighbours and we knew we would welcome that attitude with open arms!!)

Our first stop in Laos was Luang Prabang, which is an impossibly photogenic town with its lantern lit streets, French colonial feel, quaint buildings and numerous temples. The French once relinquished control of Laos, and this was seemingly evident in the number of French restaurants, observing a school lesson being taught in French and the alpine feel the buildings give.

Once we got off the boat, we knew that we would have a challenge to find accommodation that suited our budget as Luang Prabang attracts rich Americans (and everything is priced in USD - which would later turn out to be very annoying) - We must have visited 20+ guesthouses before finding our little gem which was set in peaceful grounds.

Each day we wandered the streets of Luang Prabang; You immediately see that Laos is predominantly Buddhist as everywhere you turn you see young male monks as young as 10 years of age. While wandering the streets, we took in the sights of the Mekong River and various temples in LP.

Both nights we ate at the food stalls; tucking into noodles, BBQ meats and a 10,000LKP (83p) buffet. Absolutely delicious and an absolute bargain in comparison to the restaurants. We wandered the Hmong night market; which felt endless and the whole market gave off a magical feel. There was so much we wanted to buy but we were able to head back to our guesthouse with any major purchases. (note the word - Major...)

The next day, We visited the Vietnam consulate to obtain our Vietnam Visa ready for our visit next week; this went without any hassle and we were able to pick up our passports the following day.

We knew that some friends would be arriving in Luang Prabang so we sent them a message to meet up at a bar that evening, We went to watch a movie after dinner and then headed to the Hive Bar where we met up with Mischa, Alysha, Coco and Gemma (some deaf friends from the UK who are also travelling). It turned out that they did not get our message; so it was pure coincidence that we managed to catch them. This was our first encounter with Lao Lao shot; which has a very similar taste to Tequila much to Helens dislike. Every single cocktail in Laos includes Lao Lao, eww!! (You should have seen the look on the barman's face when Helen asked for salt and lemon!)

We had a chilled out night catching up and listening to their tales, and before we knew it it was 11pm and we got to witness firsthand the strangest thing about Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang has a curfew!! The town shuts up at 11pm and you have to be back at your hostel for midnight to avoid being locked out; In a way this was good as it prevented us from having some mega wild nights and also forcing us to get a full nights sleep!!

Luang Prabang is a beautiful place to visit and there are ample restaurants to chill out and watch the world go by; but if you are on a budget like we are its a difficult place to visit as all the major attractions are a day trip away!! Yet, it was still nice to enjoy the olde-world attitude to time!

We were nervous about our minibus journey to Vang Vieng as we had heard horror stories about 80% of passengers being travel sick due to the steep curvy roads through the mountains but more of that in the next blog.