Day 26 - Unfortunately it was a very early start today as we have to fly to Luang Prabang across the border in Laos. Our taxi was booked for 7am so we wandered down to reception at 06:40 to checkout. After we'd done this, the manager offered us breakfast which was good as it didn't open until 7am. A quick omelette and it was 07:05 and no sign of the taxi. 07:15 and still no sign, cue some angry phone calls from the hotel manager, Ms Tran (legend) to the taxi driver as we were on a tight(ish) schedule and who knows what the Hanoi traffic would be like!!
The taxi arrived at about 07:20 to be met with the wrath of Ms Tran. Well we think it was wrath as he suddenly turned into Michael Schumacher!! The traffic was pretty bad and as we were flying internationally we had no idea what time the check in closed as our flight was at 09:35 and the airport was 36km's away. We were getting quite stressed in the back of the taxi as he was overtaking everything in site until his phone rang and he'd back off and let them all overtake him, just drive man!!!
We got to the airport on time and checked in, luckily there was only a small queue. We were given seats 1C and 1D so not sure of we were the first to arrive. Then came immigration, I breezed through with the only question being, "is that your girlfriend?" to which I answered, "unfortunately so!" which brought a laugh. Alice had a few issues as the woman checking her application left the booth to speak to her supervisor!!
We bought a snack with out last Vietnamese dong and sat waiting for the for the gate to open. Luang Prabang flashed up on the screen, queue the people who just have to get on the plane first making a line by the desk. 15 minutes later an announcement came over the PA system, "we regret to inform passengers on flight VN931 that the flight has been delayed due to bad weather in Luang Prabang". Another announcement an hour later with the same info. Within half an hour there was another announcement to say we could board, phew.
We arrived at the plane, another propeller job and we jumped on into the front seats with surprising amounts of leg room. A quick 1 hour flight and we touched down in beautiful sunny Luang Prabang!! Bad weather??!

Another scrum to get our visa applications. But $70 for the visas later, and bags picked up, we were back in Laos!
A minivan ride to our guesthouse, The Chitdata II which was overlooking the mighty Mekong River in a beautiful spot. A welcome drink on arrival and we were showed to our room, again a river view, perfect. We went out for a wander around town to get out bearings again as we'd been here for a day earlier in the trip. We happened to find a really nice bakery to grab a spot of lunch with a pain ou chocolate and a beer lao which I had missed so much. Vietnam beer does not touch beer lao!!
Back to the hotel to get ready to go out for dinner. We HAD to go shopping on the way and I might have slightly embarrassed myself by trying to haggle in a fair trade shop not seeing the (small) sign that said no haggling!! We had a wander around the night market which has got everything from t-shirts to smoking pipes. We then wandered down a side road that unbeknown to us was Luang Prabrang's street food market and was packed with foreigners in a really small street, quite a sight. We ended up in a restaurant overlooking the Mekong. We just had to order sticky rice which we hadn't had since leaving Laos. A small trip by the waiter an I nearly wore my sweet and sour beef but luckily it only went on the table! Alice had a very spicy soup which almost blew her head off! A bit of a wander back to the hotel and I think everything is starting to catch up with us as we are both absolutely shattered. Just looking to wander around the many Wats in town tomorrow so not too stressful, he says!!