temples and waterfalls but no elephants

Now that is Travel!
I really liked you saving the best part of the story for the very end- the Kif Kef chocolate bar. That's the essence of travelling, IMHO. Nice pictures from Luang Prubang and the waterfalls, and the "BASA" look on your faces in the Hongsa part really bring the story to life. How many Banana Boat tubes did you use so far? Did you bring enough? Waterfall picture tip- if you can control your exposure speed, take two shots of each scene- one with the slowest speed you can handle (use a tripod or a tree to go down to 1/8 or 1/4 if you can) and one at the fastest light allows (1/500, or even more for big waterfalls). The difference between the milky blurring and the frozen water drops can be fascinating.

Great Story!
I'd love to spend more time in Laos, but maybe not on a long boat ride to nowhere. Have done that already in the Amazon region. But there, hitching a ride on the river was quite easy, it's just the lack of any people at all where we were dropped off, and the drumming deep in the jungle that was unnerving. I'm going to miss your blogs when you go home. I'm off to India soon. Just back from Egypt, Jordan and Libya, your part of the world, with my teenage son. Quite amazing.