After such a party scene in Vang Vieng it was nice to visit a small quiet town called Luang Prabang. With lots of temples and monks everywhere we knew we were in tranquillity. Was a time for Fay and I to reflect and relax with massages and gorgeous meals out, a really nice treat. Unusually, we turned up with no accommodation and struggled to get somewhere within our budget but after 2hrs of walking and checking guest houses we found a room with ensuite at a place called Sok Dee Guest House 100,000kip per night (£9 ) well within our budget. It came with nice owners of whom was a Man Utd Fan to my disgust but banter as normal with laughter not shy (especially as they beat Man City and Leicester beat Derby!)

On our first morning we set out our stall and went looking to plan the next few days here. First on our agenda was to find a moped to hire and drive to the Kouangxi Waterfall and Bear Sanctuary. It was 35km out of the town, and the ride was amazing through paddy fields, farms and small villages with the warm summer breeze blowing in our faces. I drove all the way there and to our delight the waterfalls themselves were gorgeous & clear blue, with rope swing and views to enjoy. Fay insisted on driving back, I'd shown her how to use the semi auto gears but stupidly I forgot to mention the foot brake (most important) we got 1km down the road and hit a sharp bend and luckily she heard me shout right foot is the brake pedal before it was too late!! We swapped back shortly after that! Ha ha

Because Asia is less expensive than South America we decided to treat ourselves to a few lovely meals out - the Coconut Garden being our favourite restaurant. Little bit more expensive than normal, however the set menu for one was actually big enough for both of us… which meant more money for cocktails!! On Valentines night we headed to Loa Loa Garden Bar (Lonely Planets top pick) for dinner & the 2-4-1 cocktails. They had made an effort with balloons & red love hearts everywhere, however they still had the 10ft Xmas tree in the garden (I don't think they quite get the idea that its bad luck not to take the tree down after the 12th day of Xmas!) Was a lovely romantic night, the cocktails were flowing and before we knew it was gone midnight and this town has a 12.00pm curfew - we felt like Cinderella had to leave the ball. On the way out the nice male waiter who'd been serving us all night didn't want a Valentines kiss from Fay, but from me instead…. I went half-heartedly for a laugh, however he pinched my bum aswell to Fay's "think you've pulled love" hysterics!!!

We'd been told that the best place to watch the sunset over the Mekong was from the top of Wot Phu Si temple. 350 steps to the top but the views we're beautiful overlooking the whole town & and river. We got there a little early to get a good spot, as by 6pm the small terrace on top was crowded & it gave us the perfect opportunity to set up our sunset photo shoot. The night markets were also good for handmade wooden carvings, clothes and jewellery, but for us we needed an early night ready for the trip to Vietnam.

Unfortunately we were given some tempting information about a free 14 day tourist waiver into Vietnam that you could get on the boarder rather than paying $50 each for a visa. We were told of a bus load of Europeans doing this only the week before and were successful, so me being me & always trying to save the pounds decided to give it a go, hoping that if failed we could pay for a visa on arrival. However apparently there is no such thing, not from the boarder of Laos to Vietnam anyway!! Immigration just laughed at us and turned us away.... much to our fear the bus driver just threw our bags off and carried on travelling to Hanoi without us - at 8am in the morning in the middle of the mountains with only 80,000 kip (£8) and no atm for 120km… we felt screwed!! Just the thought of Fay and I staying in the rough overnight somewhere or even in a barn we decided to hitch hike with a truck driver the 120km to the nearest town & atm - Phonsavan (a village that had been bombed by USA only a few years ago - wounds on show still now, slightly hostile) we paid the truck driver and got the next bus out of there to Vientiane and have now given up on the idea on going Vietnam. We're now headed south to 4000 islands in Southern Laos. What an ordeal, dealing with Fay was worse because obviously is was my fault and after 3 overnight bus journeys in a row we were knackered, disoriented and dirty... thank god for sleeping tablets and baby wipes!! ha ha. But we are safe & sound now!

Looking back, the hitch hike truck journey was slightly scary, as the driver had scars down his face and didn't either speak English nor smile!! I took a look in the mirror and hey, with my scars and unhappy face he must have thought the same! But after we paid him 150,000 kip (£12) on safe arrival he was beaming because I'm sure he could now feed his family for the next month. These are the experiences that make travelling more interesting and we'll never make the same mistake again!