Back on the boat, we spent another day meandering down the Mekong with cards & beer high on the agenda. Quite late in the afternoon we visited the Pakou Caves, which houses thousands of Buddah images. Luang Prabang was our final destination & after dinner we checked out the local markets before heading back to our resort style guesthouse, which has awesome views of the Khan River.... read more

After being pleasantly surprised by waking up with an almost non existant hangover, I boarded a minivan heading north. Our first stop was to Rong Rhunian, an amazing white temple designed & built by a local artist. I purchased a few prints from the adjoining gallery to send home & far from being an art critique, I really liked the amazing detail & bright colours the artist uses in his work. We stopped for lunch at a restuarant called Cabbages & Condoms, which is a non profit organization in Thailand that works with locals to promote safe sex practices & birth/population control. Back on the road for the afternoon, we arrived at the border town of Chiang Khong & had dinner overlooking Laos across the Mekong River.... read more

Tody began with a trip to a Buddhist temple, then onto a local market. Vicki bought some exotic fruits for everybody to try & we wandered around marvelling at the vast array of unusual food for sale. The animal produce was most interesting, with everything from live turtles to chickens feet for sale. Afterwards a small group decided to explore the city on foot, although we found many areas restricted as celebrations marking the 60th Anniversary of the Kings ascention to the throne were in full swing. Brightly coloured presidential Longtail boats were moored at one location & we watched the formal procession that night on television. Bright yellow t-shirts were on sale EVERYWHERE, which the Thai's will wear for the next year! Apparently yellow is the King's colour as it represents the day on which ... read more