thurs day 111

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After spending a few very enjoyable days in the north of Laos today id decided to begin my descent. Firstly meeting up with the group from yesterday for breakfast and saying goodbye only to Guillaume as all the others were leaving today also. So, getting the boat at 09.30 we arrived back in Nong Khiaw just over an hour later. Jumping in a songtheaw we were driven to the bus station to get a connecting bus back to Luang prabang. Feeling pretty unwell on a 4hr journey that seemed more like 8hrs we had finally arrived. Walking a short distance with Hayley, Craig and crystal we found a perfectly good hostel to book ourselves into for a night or so. Chilling out for an hour or two I stayed put while the others popped out for a drink. Feeling much better after a bit of a rest I met up with Hayley and we walked over to Big Brother Mouse. A charity run organisation that is set up to help improve laotions English - reading and writing. With Luang prabang seeming to have no end of English speaking visitors they have a perfect setting. The charity encourages visitors to pop in either for a morning or evening session to help out. We made it over and sat chatting to a group of 8 15-20 yr olds for an hour or two. The majority of the group were starting new lives in Luang prabang coming from far reaching remote villages, where the main source of income is from the land. It was interesting to learn a little bit more about their lives and how different things must be for them. Saying our goodbyes Hayley and I headed back to the hostel through the night market, stopping to buy a pair of much needed shorts and trousers. It had been a nice evening, we relaxed when we got back to the hostel.

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