Still filled with the wonders of Angkor Wat we arrived in Luang Prabang in the evening. A pleasantly cool temperature enveloped us as we stepped off the plane into a very small airport. The visa process went surprisingly smoothly (all my worries had been for nothing). Strangely each country pays a different visa fee and if you are Swiss you can enter for free. Having secured a taxi we were then promptly dropped in the night market and told that our hotel was 'somewhere down there'. Walking through narrow tent alleyways with two big backpacks was not ideal especially as we didn't know where we were meant to be going. The market however was fabulous! What an array of colours and crafts. Completely different to what we had seen in Cambodia and Vietnam. To our relief we eventually saw a sign for our hotel and gratefully unloaded our bags. We headed straight back out to grab some food and walk around the market.

The next morning we were greeted by fresh produce sellers lined up all along our road. From living eels to vegetables and bags of rice, everything was available. The way of life in Laos moves at a much slower pace and so to get ourselves accustomed to it, we decided to give ourselves a planning and relaxing day. We did a little exploring, some research, came up with a rough itinerary for our time in the country and of couse visited the night market again. Compared to the other countries we had visited, the vendors here were not at all pushy and instead greeted you with a smile and a loud 'sabaidii'.

The following day we got up very early to witness the alms ceremony during which the Buddhist monks walk down the streets and are given food. It's become a bit controversial as the ceremony attracts a lot of tourists who don't always behave appropriately, thrusting cameras in monk's faces.
It did appear to be a bit of a chore for the monks. We had also read that after some resistance due to contaminated food, the monks had been told by the Laos government that the ceremony would have to continue due to its tourist appeal. If the monks wouldn't do it, the government would bring in actors. Impostor monks...the darker side of tourism...
The rest of the day was spent sightseeing, visiting the various beautiful Wats (temples) as well as climbing up to Mount Phou Si for the sunset (along with hundreds of other tourists).

For our last day we had booked ourselves onto a half day elephant ride. Elephants are still being used by villages for illegal logging. To help both the villages and the elephants, a sanctuary for the elephants (called The Elephant Village) has been set up. At the sanctuary the elephants and their mahouts (drivers) provide rides for tourist. The elephants are well looked after and cared for. The villagers are paid for the loan of their elephants so they are not tempted to use the elephants for illegal logging. The ride was great fun and we even got to have a go as a mahout sitting on the neck (frantically trying not to loose our flip flops). What an experience to feel this giant under you and have you hands buried in the stiff hair. It got quite exciting when a truck went by and gave the elephants a fright. Ours started to run, others trumpeted, rumbled and even started to back into a villager's house, which was followed by lots of angry shouting from the villager. However, the mahouts soon had everyone under control again.

The next day we were due to depart on a trip 4 hours north to Nong Khiaw, a small village on the banks of the Nam Ou river.

Shortly before our bus picked us up in the morning we withdrew money from an ATM machine and in a moment of utter stupidity forgot to take out our card from the machine (again!). Only after wandering down the road did we realise our mistake. Running back to the ATM (not easy in flip flops and with 20kg on your back) we found a slip saying the card had been retained by the machine. Fortunately the ATM had a contact number and address for the Joint Development Bank to retrieve retained cards. Unfortunately our pick up for the bus was due between 08:30 and 09:00 and the bank only opened at 08:30.

Appalled at our idiocy, we ran back to our hostel. They showed us where the bank was on a map, a 10 minute walk away, and said they would ask our pick up to wait until 09:00. We decided to get to the bank as they opened and see if they could come to the ATM to release our card straightaway.

We followed the hostel's directions and arrived at the Laos Development Bank shortly before they opened. However, we had some doubts about whether this was the right place - we needed the Joint (not Laos) Development Bank. The doubts were confirmed by a member of staff arriving at the bank. She gave us directions to get to the Joint Development Bank and said it was about ten minutes away by túk-túk. We started walking but grew more uncertain about the directions we had been given. Eventually we waived down a túk-túk to take us to the bank. We explained that we needed the Joint Development Bank and not the Laos Development Bank. The driver nodded reassuringly. He dropped off another passenger first and then proceeded to drive through the streets of Luang Prabang. With a sinking feeling we saw that the houses started to get fewer and eventually we arrived at a hospital. Here our driver stopped, called a friend and handed us the phone. Despite his best attempts the friend didn't know where the Joint Development Bank was either. Dejected we told to driver to take us back to the main tourist area. We would just have to cancel this card too. But luck had not entirely deserted us. Back at the fateful ATM we managed to get hold of someone at the bank and they promised to come over asap. In the meantime our pick up had arrived. We explained the situation to the other falangs (foreigners) who were happy to wait a little. Just at that moment the bank staff arrived and released our card. Relieved and exhausted we climbed into the pick up. What a start to the day!

*Steph