We left Vang Vieng by mini-van and were obviously the last to be picked up as everyone else was packed in like sardines with 2 seats left on the back row - not the best place for the journey we were about to embark on. 5.5 hours at an average speed of 40km per hour, we jolted our way to Luang Prabang on a "minibus from hell to heaven on earth". Heather didn't spend much time, if any, looking out of the window as we climbed up through the mountains, passing vehicles stuck in sand on a bend after a landslide, and sheer drops - no crash barriers here. When we got to the top we stopped and had glorious views, although a little hazy, and then swapped vehicles. I guess our driver only goes half way.

We made it to "heaven" and got a tuk-tuk to our guesthouse which was in a peaceful little street a stone's throw away from the Mekong River - little did we know, we were going to get to know this river quite well. We had booked 5 nights here and so glad we did.

It's a Unesco World Heritage Site. Many temples, many monks, a fabulous night market, a beautiful setting on the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, some lovely French architecture, a hill to climb in the centre of town, and an all-round gentle place to just stop for a while. Our 5 days went quickly and here is a run down of how we spent our time -

Finding a "local" just around the corner where we sat in the evenings watching the sunset and enjoying a cold beer or two and the occasional Margarita.

Fabulous little restaurants and one in particular called Tamarind where we ate typical Lao food, choosing the vegetarian tasting menu - superb!

Walking the streets and stopping in little coffee shops and sampling the happy hours in the small bars in the early evening. Walking through the night market with lovely handicrafts and nobody trying to hassle you to buy and all manner of street food. Exploring the beautiful temples, the royal palace and climbing the 300+ steps up to the top of Phou Si hill for sunset - along with the rest of the town! There was a great 360-degree view from above, but we preferred out sunset in our local with not quite so many people.

Less relaxing, we hired mountain bikes for the day and crossed the old bridge to the other side of the Nam Khan river and went off exploring. We found many temples, a pretty village where they made paper, weaving and various other handicrafts, and a rickety bamboo bridge back over to the main town. Apparently the bridge gets washed away in wet season so the local villagers rebuild it every year. We decided to stop at the restaurant overlooking the river and bridge and they happened to have a lunch time happy hour - would be rude not to - a cocktail for £2.00. Heather also tried their black sticky rice and mango and declared it as her new favourite desert.

We watched life on the river and over the bridge for an hour before deciding to carry on. Not 5 minutes later Heather got a puncture so we had to walk back in to town and an hour later, we changed the bike for another one. We cycled around the headland of the town for a couple of hours with frequent photo stops before taking the bikes back.

We had bumped in to a lovely young Dutch couple a few times and found out that the next day they were going to the Kuang Si waterfalls so we said we would join them and split the cost of the tuk tuk. We started early to beat the crowds (it is Chinese New Year and there are a lot of Chinese tourists) and an hour later we arrived. We first walked through a bear rescue sanctuary with great information about Asian sun and moon bears and the Free the Bears protection program.

Then on to the falls, which were more beautiful than we had anticipated - they are a sum of beautiful parts: cold spring water, one big cascade, little falls, natural trail, forest and blue turquoise waters. We spent a couple of hours walking up to the big cascade and back to the lower pool where Dan braved the cold water and had a refreshing dip.

The highlight of our time in Luang Prabang had to be our visit to the Mandalao Elephant Conservation. A non-riding elephant experience focussed on education and animal welfare. Mandalao's 10 elephants have spent the majority of their lives working together in logging camps. With new regulations limiting logging operations across Laos, and concern over elephant welfare, Mandalao have been able to bring these amazing creatures home to where they offer them a dignified and comfortable life in harmony with nature.

We started with a talk and introduction about Mandalao and the elephants, before going to meet our 2 friends and getting to know them by feeding them. Then off we set for a 90-minute walk through the forest with the elephants following us closely behind. Was such a special day, quite remarkable to be so close to these gentle giants and for Heather, personally emotional.

Our time in Luang Prabang is over too quickly but hope to return one day to this special country.