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Published: March 3rd 2007
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Night Market
Luang prabang night market So last time we left off at Laos so here we start again but this time in Luang Prabang.
Luang Prabang
We made our way up here from Van vieng by a bus with Liz, Kat, Toulsie and Brian. Once we arrived we found a lovely hotel and took in the scenery of Luang Prabang. This city is set on the Mekong river and really not what you would expect in Laos, it is really beautiful. As Laos was a part of the French colony there is still a huge French influence here. Particularly in the agriculture and restaurants/cafes. We had a little look round the night market which is full of many gorgeous bags, jewelry, tapestry and so much more and then a lovely meal in one of the French style restaurants.
The next day we hired bikes and took in some of the 15 or so temples around the town. We only went inside a couple though. It was lovely to see the colours and detail of the decoration and luckily Kat who was with us could tell us a little about Buddhism. We had another stroll round the night market and back to bed as
Feast
this was made for just the 2 of us! So much food and it was all delicious. Ruth was ill with malaria (well that’s what she thought anyway). We ended up spending the next week here as Ruth was ill and she needed to get better before we moved on. We went to the gorgeous waterfalls and took a trip round the palace and a few more nights at the market. We also took a lovely trip up the Mekong river on a long boat. It took the whole day and was actually really cold, the views were stunning and it was really nice to see all the Laos people using the river for washing, fishing, playing etc. We stayed one night in Non Kiaw and then made our way back to Luang Prabang in the morning. We had a few more nights here and then took the plane to Hanoi. We spent longer than we had anticipated in Luang prabang but it was a beautiful place to spend so much time in.
Vietnam
We flew into Hanoi and took an overnight bus trip down to Hue the same day. After the 12 hour trip we were glad to bump into Nick (a guy we had met in van vieng) who told us
where to stay. We only spent a day in Hue where we went for a boat ride down the perfume river. We saw some lovely pagodas but didn't really know any of the history. We were also served up a feast of vietnemese food which was delicious but we couldn't finish. After the boat trip we went for a relaxing facial and a nice dinner ready for our next bus trip in the morning.
We took another open tour trip to Hoi An. This town is famous for its tailoring, My son ruins and its beach, ruth and I were in our element. We stayed here for 4 nights. We spent the mornings and evenings getting fitted and refitted for all our dresses, suits, coats etc by the day we would laze by the pool or beach. We also spent one early morning (5am, for a sunrise that was hidden by bloody clouds!) at My son ruins. These are very ancient cham temples which were mainly destroyed by the americans in the war. Again we didn't know much of the history but it was nice to see around them and try to picture what they would have been like in
Waterfalls
Luang prabang their prime.
Another fun activity the three of us took part in was a cooking class. It was really just us cooking our own meal. We got instructions, ingredients and an assistent to prepare spring rolls, papya and shrimp salad and fish with lemongrass and garlic. It was and still is one of the best meals I have had on my travels, I'm not biased or anything!
After Hoi An we went to Dalat, in the mountains, for a coule of days. We had planned to do a trek but then found out that we had to leave for Mui Ne as the buses stopped for chinese new year. So we spent a pretty random day at a golf course and a flower centre. We also had a super romantic valentines day dinner in a lovely french restaurant. I think Nick lucked out having 2 dates!
Mui Ne
We celebrated chinese new year in Mui ne, a beach resort in southern vietnam. The beach was gorgeous and we also decided to treat ourselves again with a really plush hotel, which actually only 7 pounds a night each. The pool was amazing and right on the beach front.
Temple
Luang prabang We lazed here for 4 days on the beach with a drunken night out on chinese new year, obviuosly! And some great skinning dipping with the plankton all lit up around us!
We also took part in some tabogining with a difference, sand sledging. Not quite as fast as snow and slightly different feeling climbing back up, the sand was burning us, but great fun.
We left Mui ne with smiles on our faces and headed to Ho Chi Minh city for 2 days. Here Ruth and I once again treated ourselves to a nice hotel, not too sure we are true backpackers. THis hotel was massive and very plush with an awesome buffet breakfast, mmmmm! We had a nice meal out with some welsh guys (ruth was estatic to meet her first welsh mates) we met in Mui ne. The next day we roamed round Ho Chi Minh, went to the War remenants museum, the famous rex hotel and had a few drinks. The mopeds were crazy here. We were literally walking in front of them in order to cross the road.
We were really sad to leave vietnam the next day. We really enjoyed it here.
There are so many diverse places to see, cheap but really nice hotels and food and of course the shopping!
but it was time to move onto our next stop, Cambodia...........
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