Last day here in Luang Prabang...

Well sticking to plans has never been one of my fortes and while travelling i have not changed much...still have not managed to get up to this temple on top of the hill which i have been planning to see since i arrived here in Luang Prabang...and i am leaving tomorrow morning having still not visited it.
Not that i would change what i have done,I had a lovely day today back on the river (i know...you would think i would be bored of it)...the guy from the hostel and 2 of his friends were looking for a village to explore with the thought of starting up a homestay in one. We arrived at this village which was lovely...not a tourist in site and we watched (they spoke and i asked occasional questions) her chop up bamboo- used as a twine and also used for when they get the rice as well as for building foundations and support- very strong and useful stuff!
We saw puppies and chicks (one very cute loud one who seemed to have lost its big group of friends), pigs and turkeys and ducks...all adding to the lovely setting of the village, lovely smiley happy Laos people...we went for a wander and met another lady who was chopping up wood and then some school kids...the village has a population of about 400 and the men are mainly fishermen. We then went and wandered around the school- not sure if we were meant to and we opened one door and heard a rustle- just assuming it was a rat we ventured in to see a snake where the guy shouted snake snake snakeee...i asked the vital question of was it poisonous and he said yes...but the snake had got out the other side of the beginning- do you think that schools have to write that in health and safety reports?
We then got the boat back and wandered back up to the hostel...
For lunch before the boat trip (can you tell i am rushing and not writing in chronological order lol)...we had more mekong fish and chicken that had been bbq'd and also tried some buffalo and random other dried cured meat...god knows what it was but was like a sheet of meat and also random curly twisty meat...all with good ol' sticky rice which is the most common food out here.
This evening was just planning a quick meal on the market and to get some fly spray and a sim card...well i headed to the pharmacy where she spoke no english and nothing there seemed to resemble fly spray so i went to a random shop which randomly had fly spray- only 20% stuff but better than none :)
Then got my sim card which cost me 50,000 kip and i get 25,000 kip credit. I will let you know my number once i have worked it out.
Then wandering down the street through the market i met a guy who i met out last night (The guy from london whos parents are malaysian and british) and i guy from my hostel randomly at a bar...small world and all, i was only going there to go to the atm next to it...which wasn't working and was locked up- the 1 atm in the town! The london guy was meeting up with 2 irish girls who he had met today mountain biking so i went for a meal with the 2 of them while the guy from my hostel went back...i went for a chicken steak and chips- so none laos but i felt a need for something different :)
We finished there and went for a wander through the town which dramatically empties after 10-11...there is a curfue in the town so no drinking in bars after 11pm...this doesn't affect buying alcohol or the fact that you can buy it at the bowling alley till 3am- strange Laos logic yet true :) :)
I have booked my trip tomorrow to vang Vieng at 9am and its a 5hour minibus journey...then i just have to find a hostel which is a bit of an impossible process as all seem to be guesthouses but il see what i find when i get there (With not much kip so i hope there is an atm close by...luckily i still have baht!)
Have fun :)
xxxxx

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