After almost a day and a half relaxing at Adam's Dad's house in Bangkok (which is huge and incredible and has really lovely staff) enjoying the sunshine, good food and a swim in the pool, we've had a tiring couple of days travelling. From Bangkok we had an overnight train to Nong Khai which is near the Thailand-Laos border. This took just over 13 hours and whilst it was pretty comfortable we didn't manage to get much sleep. We then spent about three hours getting to the border, sorting out visas and getting to Vientiane. We did this with a couple of Swedish guys who had less idea about it all than we did.
In Vientiane we got a fruit shake each and then found a guest house which would sort the bus to Luang Prabang for us and let us leave our bags for the few hours we had before departing. We then wondered around Vientiane, saw some temples, including Pha That Luang, the main Stupa of which appears on the Laos national seal. We had some really great food at a pretty little cafe, Adam had his first of probably many Beerlao, and we played with some tiny little resident kittens before meandering back to the guest house to pick up our bags and get the bus to the bus station where we then got our "VIP" bus to Luang Prabang. The bus was not very "VIP" and not really comfy. It is a 10 hour journey but after 3km the bus broke down and it took an hour and a half until we were on our way again. With no toilet on board, the bus made a wee stop every few hours but only one of these stops actually had facilities, although I wouldn't call them toilets so men just stood at the side and relieved themselves and women had to squat in front of everyone. By the time I worked out the etiquette for women going and plucked up the courage, the bus horn sounded so I had to wait for the next stop after an uncomfortable 2 hours on the bumpy, windy roads that resembled the surface of the moon!
We eventually got to Luang Prabang 14 hours after leaving Vientiane, shared a taxi to the main street with plenty of hostels to choose from with two girls, had some breakfast in a cafe to make us feel a bit more human and then I went round a few guest houses to find the best cheap room whilst Adam looked after the bags at the cafe. We chose the cheapest, which was not the worst, and then each had a long awaited shower and a snooze in a proper bed!
Feeling a little more refreshed we headed out to see some sights in Luang Prabang. It's really very pretty here and very relaxing. People don't hassle you as you walk past their shop and we sat for ages on the steps of a Wat (temple) watching the local boys playing the popular game of Kataw and enjoying the peacefulness of the place. We've come across the rickety temporary bridge made of bamboo to a lovely restaurant where we're sat on cushions around low tables, looking out to banana trees and the river. We've had some delicious food, some not so nice mango daiquiri cocktails and now using their guidebooks to plan more of our trip. Looking forward to a proper nights sleep before walking around the bigger sights of Luang Prabang tomorrow.