Luang Prabang to Vientiane to Bangkok

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Hi all,

We are now in Bangkok. Yesterday (on our last day in Luang Prabang), we woke up at 5:30 am in the morning to give alms to the monks. This has become a tradition of ours as we try to do it every time we are in Luang Prabang. The wats are so much a part of what makes Luang Prabang special and giving alms is a bit of their traditions. After giving alms, we went to a small bamboo bridge that Anthony Bourdin walked accross during his show on Laos. We then walked around the morning market and then to a vendor's stall for nam kao (soft rice wrap with pork and mushroom) before heading back to the hotel to pack. After packing we climbed up Mount Phousi to take some pictures of the city view of Luang Prabang. We then had our final lunch at Steven's cousin house, then left for the airport for our flight to Vientiane. Upon arrival in Vientiane, Steven's cousin met us at the airport and offered to take us around Vientiane, but we were so tired and only had an hour or so so we just stayed at the airport. Finally, we boarded our flight back to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok and had a long 2 hour drive through Friday night traffic to our hotel. Steven was tired so we just walked around the hotel area a bit before calling it a night.

This morning we woke up early again (around 6 am) to go on our Ayutthaya tour that we had arranged before our trip. The place that we were supposed to meet our tour group was across the river from our hotel. We went to check in with our tour group at 7:00 am but no one was at the counter to check us in. We waited 10 minutes and still no one was there so we decided to take a boat back to our hotel since the sign seemed to indicate we were leaving in an hour. When we went back to the counter later around 7:45 am, a person at the counter told us that the tour bus had left..... We told them that we were here at 7:00 am but no one was here at the counter... Anyway, they changed our tour to tomorrow..

So today, we went to Chatusak Weekend market. I got some stuff for the house. Then, we went to the big Paragon Shopping Mall and had lunch there. Then back to our Hotel..

I am typing this blog from our hotel executive lounge on 31th floor overlook Chao Praya river while Ken is trying to catch some sleep in the room. He wants to be refreshed before heading out to sample the local nightlife tonight.

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today...

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