Luang Prabang is such a nice city; it's very small, really an island with two main streets, but its just lovely. The architecture is French-inspired, and its really charming.

In Vang Vieng we saw teams of kayakers training along the river, and having arrived in Luang Prabang we realised that it was for a big boat race tournament. So, having picked our V.Vieng team to support, Cords persuaded me to set foot on a precarious-looking longboat over to the other side of the river where lots of cheering and celebrations marked the event. Spotted some interesting sights; the ever-present street food here included chicken's feet and dried whole squid, complete with flies. We're still being quite cautious with the food as we're worried about delicate English constitutions, so decided to give it a miss for now... Aside from that I'm doing ok with the food, have had some gorgeous noodles and stir-fry's. That said, I was really chuffed to find a nice bakery/ deli which serves nice Western food. Salads washed in bottled water so they're safe for us to eat is a real treat! Oh and there are lots of bakeries here so we've been treating ourselves to a daily slice of cake. It's for fuel!!!

Today I went on a trip out to the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls, just outside Luang Prabang. Cords did some swimming in the clear bright-blue waters, I did some paddling... standing under the spray was lovely.