Last Post For Laos

Once arrived in Luang Prabang we only stay two nights. That really meant one day to see the sights. We had to skip the caves and just stick to things about town. And WHAT a town. Luang Prabang is a French Colonial town with some of the best streets and buildings we've seen. It is a real charmer. We spent our day riding bicycles around town, visiting various Wats and the Palace Museum, and topping it off with a sunset from the top of the hill in the centre of the town. Unfortunately as this was suggested in our trusty L.P. everyone else had the same idea. There's nothing like a hundred people all fighting for that perfect photo to ruin what would otherwise have been a nice view. Never mind.

After a few evening drinks with our American friend Christian and a new acquaintance Irna from Deutschland we headed back to the guesthouse. In the morning after some undercooked pancakes we began the nine hour bus ride to Vientiane. This was a winding ride through the beautiful Laos mountains, but it proved a little much for me and I was sick most of the way. These things are to be expected. We finally arrived in the late afternoon at Vientiane and settled in for the weekend. We couldn't leave until our visas for Vietnam were organised so we have been exploring the sites around town in the meantime. There is an amusing Arch de Triumph which was built with the concrete given to Laos to build an airport. We also visited their National Museum.....what can we say other than they seem to love their dioramas.

Tomorrow we fly out for Vietnam. (with the Vietnam Air who DO publish their safety records)

We don't seem able to post photos so you'll have to wait while we go some fisty-cuffs with blogger.