We had a relatively pleasant journey from Vang-Vieng to Luang Prabang, mainly because we bagged ourselves front seats in the minivan but also the scenery along the way was really interesting too. We drove through the mountains on windy roads and passed through several villages where children would run out and show off handfulls of dead weasels (I'm not sure if it was their own collection or they were selling them!) We stopped off at the top of one of the hills for a cheeky toilet stop and a look at the incredible view just as the sun was setting.

We arrived into Luang Prabang about 10 o'clock and as we'd already booked a hotel we checked straight in and got an early night. It was a slightly more expensive so the next morning we moved to a cheaper one just round the corner which was run by a nice old Laos couple. We hired some bikes to go check out the town and some of the temples. Luang Prabang has the feel of a sleepy French town and is located at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong River which lends itself to bike riding along the banks of the river and over the bridge to the other side of the Nam Khan. Once we'd headed over the river we found a really cool little cocktail bar called Dyen Sabai doing buy 1 get 1 free on cocktails, with little beds on the floor for total relaxation. Fully relaxed and recharged we got back on our bikes and cycled over to Phu Si Hill which we'd heard you could get a great panoramic over the entire city and also sit and watch the sunset. The temple on the top and the buddhist statues all the way up were really impressive but the sunset was a bit of a disappointment as there were far too many tourists all baying for the best spot to snap the sunset. Overwhelmed by the crowd we left the hilltop before sunset and made our way back in to town to drop off the bikes and find somewhere to eat. We wandered down to the night market where there were an array of different food stalls. We ate in a buffet style stall where you filled your own plate with rice dishes and salad and then ordered which meat you wanted at the other end where they cooked it on a bbq for you. We actually got shouted at because we had taken one plate and filled it up for the two of us (you have to make these kind of savings when you are travelling for 6 months). To round the evening off we found another cool little bar called Utopia which had tables and chairs arranged in a relaxed garden setting, we sat watching a group of people using the volleyball court in the middle of the gardens drinking beer Lao.

For our second day in Luang Prabang we had arranged to visit the Kuang Si waterfalls with 2 other travellers we'd met, Alicia and Zane. We had a great time checking out the waterfalls and swimming in the ice cold waters at the bottom of the falls. There was a rope swing that hung from a tree that was getting alot of attention from some of the locals so me and Alicia decided to have a go too, we went on 2 or 3 times trying to swing out further and higher copying the locals technique, but without the crazy backflips. Zane built up the courage to have a go too but when she got up there, balanced on the edge of the tree's branch with a crowd of people clapping her to go, she lost her confidence and came back down gutted that she hadn't been able to give it a go. We met up with the girls later that evening after we'd eaten for some drinks in Ikon bar which was playing really good rock music, a pleasant surprise as most of Laos had been playing aweful pop music everywhere else. We arranged to meet up again the next day this time to see the Pak Ou Caves and Whisky Village. We had another great day sampling whisky at the Whisky Village and even bought a bottle to take away with us. The caves are interesting too. They are filled with hundreds of miniature Buddha statues that local people had left as offerings. When we returned to Luang Prabang town we went for Dinner with Alicia and Zane before saying our farewells as we were due to leave Luang Prabang that evening on an overnight bus to Chiang Mai in Thailand...