As slack on the updates as ever!!

A few weeks ago there were a couple of public holidays in Vietnam that created a 5 day weekend, so naturally I went on holiday!! I headed to Laos for a few days in Luang Prabang. It was my third visit there but it is such a nice place to just relax. I found a nice hotel to stay at that had a pool (coz who wants to be out and about in 40 degree heat when you can be reading by the pool?!) and decided that as long as I did something active in the morning I could totally justify sitting by the pool or in a cafe by the river, or shopping in the little boutiques!

It's a very nice town to walk around as the main part of the town is situated where two rivers meet, plus there are loads of temples and pretty houses so I spent some time in the town just wandering around.

It is also easy to get out into the countryside as the town is so small. The hotel offered free bike hire so I went out towards a craft place on the edge of the town one morning. Got distracted by small country lanes and little villages surrounded by mountains before eventually reaching the craft place. At one point I had several small children following my up a hill screaming hello at me so that by the time I'd reached the top, pretty much the whole village had come out to see what the commotion was all about!

Another day I cycled out the opposite way down some dusty red roads to the paper and silk village along the river. There are lots of little shops there to take a break from the heat, and a really nice artisan cafe run by an Australian woman. On the way back to town from the village there is a really nice restaurant overlooking the river. It has tiered wooden floors and you sit on piles of cushions to eat awesome food: 

such a pretty green curry!


I also went out to one of the waterfalls around the area. I've been to the biggest one twice already so I decided to check out the less famous one that doesn't get many visitors. As it was the dry season it was little more than a trickle, but it was a nice walk up through the jungle and back down the other side where you can then sit in the cafe next to the lake. My tuk tuk driver came with me to show me things and tell me stories which kept me entertained, and there were only two other tourists there so it was nice and quiet, unlike the more famous waterfall which is always full of tour groups.

In the evenings the hotel ran a shuttle bus into the town (not that it was exactly far away) so I'd go into town to watch the sunset from the river or the temple at the top of the hill, have dinner and do a bit of shopping in the night market. There are so many pretty things to buy there! I was intelligent this time tho and only bought a small bag with me so I couldn't cave in and buy too much as I'd have no way to get it back with me!

Full set of photos here