Luang Prabang - still here

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Jim has woken feeling a lot better, but think it best if it is again a quiet day for him.

The rain that has been threatening for last few days arrived during the night. Washing the dust from the trees and making them all look greener.

We wandered the streets again, revisiting places that we had seen last year. Buildings have undergone remarkable changes in the year. One old home that was in a very rundown state last year has had a remarkable regentrifiction done to it. Repairs, fresh paint, gardens clipped and manicured to become the French Cultural Centre (opened Nov 2007). Luang Prabang is undergoing a remarkable change. Sad in some ways that some of the charm will be lost by this process.

We wander further and eventually return to our hotel. Time for a short breather and we head out again to the Night Market. Tonight we buy something special for Ian. Me being the bad guy cuts the price asked to 1/3rd and we start the negotiations. We walk away with a very old (approx 80 years) set of Opium Scales for the sum of 200,000 Kip ($25.30 Au), a treasure that Ian had been hoping for. Time for dinner and then time for bed, an early start in the morning needing to be at the bus station by 8:30 for our bus to Udonxai. Then another bus to Muang Khua, or final destination for the day.

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Photos

Wat Xieng Thong
Very peaceful!