Landed in Laos!

On 10th May I fly from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang which only takes about an hour! When we landed we were able to buy a Tourist Visa for 30days on arrival, which cost 35$. In Laos there are 3 currencies used - American Dollars, Thai Baht and Lao Kip! This makes it very confusing when working out costs, but im slowly getting the hang of it now - at least its a little exercise for my brain!!!

Found some great accommodation in Luang Prabang which was recommended (thank you Patrick!) It was 6$ per night for a gorgeous room and great location.

The place itself is like a piece of architectural history - the place that time forgot or something like that. Basically in 1995 it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Which means that any building or restoration work is closely monitored to maintain the French Colonial style. There are some seriously beautiful buildings, its like walking around an old French Village. On our first full day we walked around taking it all in and hired bikes to get around all the Wats (temples) which was great fun. We enjoyed breakfast in the Scandinavian Bakery, which was the first bread iv enjoyed in a while with a Cafe au Lait! That evening we climbed up to the temple on the hill "Phu Si" where there are breathtaking views of Luang Prabang. The sunset wasn't bad either, I got a little carried away taking photos - still cant decide which ones to delete (they're all so pretty!)

Next day I went on a boat trip along the Mekong, Kal and Pauline were suppose to come but unfortunately Kal was ill. We visited Caves and then a beautiful waterfall where we spent most of the day. The boat trip itself was great, slowly cruising along the river taking in all the beautiful scenery and spying on the locals getting on with day to day life. Also seeing the Water Buffallo along the bank was very cool.

The following day Id booked myself on a Mountain Biking / Kayaking day trip with White Elephant Tours - and this was a fab day out. It ended up just being me and another English girl called Karen, and the guide. We set off from Luang Prabang on our bikes and road through the countryside, up and down fairly bumpy hills, for a couple of hours! Id forgotten how much fun biking can be, when your're away from traffic and surrounded by beautiful scenery. Was real good doing some exercise too! After nearly collapsing in the heat we go onto the water which so nice. Again haven't kayaked for quite a while, but is pretty easy. Well it was for me as I sat in front and poor Karen had to copy me! sorry! I really enjoyed the day, and it was great to meet Karen, a fellow solo female traveller! Think we did our guides head in as we were constantly chatting. He managed to leave us behind quite a lot, but it was all good!

Id planned to leave Luang Prabang on the Monday morning and get the bus to Vang Vieng which was Karens plan too (plus she'd met a group of people doing the same), So we all piled onto the same bus on Monday morning... I dont hate Mondays anymore!

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