Well we arrived in Luang Prabang on the 24th October. We defiantly picked a great time to arrive as it was the boat festival that symbolizes the end of the wet season. The whole city was lit up by candles, tilly lamps and lanterns that gave the place a real Christmassy feel as we walked round taking in the sights with child like butterflies in our stomachs. The monks and locals all build model boats that are lavishly decorated with bright colours and candles out of bamboo and later in the evening they are floated down the Mekong River one by one. We had traveled here with James and Natalie from Vang Vieng and took a walk about our new home for the next few days. Before the evening set in we strolled about to check the place out. It felt like a small western town and if the roads did not have tarmac on them you could easily picture a couple of cowboys trotting down the road on horseback. But as I was saying before, once the sun went to bed the place came alive with amazing colours and fireworks and fire crackers going off in every street. We walked down to the river where the festival was really kicking off. We found a cheap and tasty place to eat with a great view of all the action on the river. Even the normal boats that tour the river were awash with lights of all colours that danced along the black waters of the river at night. We sat for hours watching the festival unfold and after nearly having 100 heart attacks with the noise of the fire crackers going off, we headed back to our digs.

The next day we had planned a day of just walking about doing our own thing until the evening, as we arranged to meet up with James and Natalie at 5pm to climb the stairs of Phu Si temple to watch the sunset. On our adventure earlier in the day we had bumped into Fletch…again and also arranged to meet at the stairs. After the long climb up we were rewarded with an amazing view and it was as if Mother Nature had placed the clouds around the mountains just for us. By the time we got up there we were caked in sweat but defiantly worth it for the view of our favorite sunset yet. We had met Fletch at the top as we had used different stairs to reach the summit but chose the stairs that he had used to climb down Phu Si temple. This brought us out bang in the middle of the night market. Again probably our favorite market so far as well, with it selling great paintings, statues, jewelry and clothes it made a change to the usual tat that you find in most markets around Southeast Asia. We found the food stalls of the market and sat down to some of the cheapest and best food we have eaten in Laos so far. You pick up a plate, load it up with as much grub as you like from the many plates in front of you, pick some meat, pay 30,000 kip ($3) and tuck in. With our bellies full to the brim, we wobbled home for an early night as we had a great day ahead of us in the morning.

We had arranged to do an elephant trek through a elephant sanctuary that rescues the elephants from villages who use them for logging factories within the jungle. We were collected at 9am and were driven about 25km out of Luang Prabang between the vast mountains and into Elephant Village. Walking into the place was magic and we were all like little kids as the first thing you see is eight elephants side by side chewing away on anything and everything. Whilst you didn't know where to look first, we slowly calmed down from our childhood excitement and took in the amazing views around us. The place was great as the elephants and there mahout's (elephant riders) walked about freely whilst we sat and had our welcome introduction. We then started our mahout training and were told all the commands that the mahout's use to steer the elephant whilst riding. With a shout of "Seung" the elephant would bend its right front leg for you so you can place your foot on its knee, holding onto the ear and throwing your other leg over, you were on. Sitting on the neck you would give a shout of "Pie" meaning to move forward, "Sai" for left, "Kwa" for right and "How" to stop. With our training complete we all hopped on an elephant to go round the block for a quick test drive. I have to admit that this was a lot scarier than I originally thought but after a while we sharp got used to it. Once we had all been for a ride bareback it was time for a quick tour of the site on foot. There was even an elephant hospital in the village which was great to see that these elephants are well looked after and cared for.

The elephants were saddled up and we climbed the stairs of a tower so we could climb on board for our elephant trek. The power of these animals is unbelievable as they are made of muscle with skin like sand paper. One by one we all set off and formed an elephant parade through the forest and down to the river. All the way round I couldn't stop signing the elephant parade song from the jungle book "keep it up, 2, 3, 4, step it up, 2, 3, 4…" We were laughing nervously as you do get thrown about quite a bit but. Once we reached the river we watched as the front elephant used its trunk to judge how deep the water was and to map out its path. One by one they followed each other in and we made the slow plod up river towards the village. A small fishing boat came past and this seemed to stress the elephants out causing them to start trumpeting, a sign that the elephant is in distress or ready to attack.Even though it was a bit worrying it was also great to hear elephants trumpeting with our own ears. It's a lot bloody louder than you think too. After slowly plodding out of the river and back to the village, we climbed off our chariots and made our way to their favorite place, the feeding station. You could buy bunches of banana's for 5,000 kip ($0.70) and the elephants loved them. They would reach out with their trunks smelling the air and hold a banana out slightly from the bunch and they will have it. It was a great experience and something we would love to do again.

After lunch we prepared for the part of the day that Ashleigh was looking forward to the most, washing the elephants. We used our mahout training to mount our elephants and rode them down to the river. On our way to the river Ashleigh's mahout asked if she could swim as the elephant she was riding on liked to dive in the water. With a laugh she said "yeah I can swim…" thinking that he was only joking. She would soon find out he wasn't. As our elephants walked into the river our mahout's handed us scrubbing brushes and we went to work on the elephant's heads and backs. When we were in the middle of the river, Ashleigh's mahout gave a shout and her elephant was gone. All I could see was Ashleigh's upper body in the water as her elephant had drove down into the water absolutely soaking her. This happened again and again with the same shrieking noise coming from Ashleigh and was the funniest thing I have seen for a while. After Ashleigh getting soaked and the elephants having a good scrub, we rode the elephants to the other side of the river where a boat was waiting to take us to the waterfall up stream. After a shout of "Map" for the elephant to get to its knees, we jumped off and straight into the boat. The boat ride was great as we all had smile plastered all over our faces from what we had just experienced. After 15 minutes we arrived at the falls that were a thing of beauty with the bluest waters I have seen so far. We swam in the cool waters for a while and spent 5 minutes convincing Ashleigh to jump off a small cliff with me. It was only about two meters high but she did it in the end. Well done love!

We boarded our boat to head back to the village and get back in the bus to take us back to Luang Prabang for 4pm. What a day it had been and something that we will never ever forget. The day had been long and was about to get longer as me and Ashleigh had booked a night bus to take us to Huay Xai at 6pm. We said our goodbyes to James and Natalie and boarded our Tuk-Tuk to the bus stop. The bus didn't look to bad compared to some we have seen so far and were pleased that we actually had some leg room, just what you need on a 13 hour bus trip. We did not sleep great but we got here in the end and it wasn't too bad at all. We have come here to put the jewel in the crown of our trip in Laos, a three day trek using zip lines and sleeping in tree houses in the jungle called The Gibbon Experience. We will fill you in on that once it is complete and we can't wait to do it!

Love Peter and Ashleigh x