Laos: Luang Prabang

The bus left at 10.30am and we arrived in LP at 5.15pm, it was definitely not a boring trip with incredible scenery and such winding roads it was hard to stay in the seat... Some people threw up but luckily us four were fine. We went up and over the mountains, at one point completely whited out in mist/ cloud. Our "VIP Bus" was decked out in psychadelic chair covers and wallpaper, with three layers of frilly curtains flapping, and tassells all over the place! The aircon didn't work but it was pleasant with the windows open, only when it rained heavily everyone shut the windows and it got hot. The driver was a nut, heaving the groaning bus uphill then letting it roar down around blind corners and through tiny villages, scattering dogs chickens cows motorbikes and children, and squeezing past tractors and trucks.

Luang Prabang is so nice and relaxed, Vang Vieng was chilled out but had a bit of a schoolies atmosphere. I haven't heard anyone actually speaking French here but everything is bilingual; Lao then French, and they sell baguettes and french crepes on every corner (not the thai roti style pancake we've loved everywhere else so far.) We haven't done too much but I've walked around the town a lot, found some really cute bookswap cafes where you can lounge upstairs in aircon drinking ginger tea and reading all arvo (did this one day), struggled up all the steps to a temple at the top of Phousi hill to see sunset and chatted to Lao english students who were keen to practise with the tourists up there, and gawked inside all the temple grounds at the millions of monks who seem to just chill out and carry towels around all day. LP is famous for the procession of monks who walk around the streets in a line at sunrise, collecting alms from the villagers, so one morning I got up at 5.45am to witness it, and so began an episode I will refer to as 'the chasing of the monks.'

Basically I was just too late as I turned into the main street and saw the tail end of a bright orange snake of monks disappear around a corner. This was no slow procession, they were striding it out! I tried to cut through some side streets to end up in front of them but kept glimpsing them tantalisingly close and then suddenly far away at the end of streets! To add to the idiocy, in my dozy state of pulling on respectful clothes I'd put the top on inside out, and for some reason I was convinced it was raining (maybe I was dreaming?) so I was lugging an umbrella around with me in the steaming sun! I gave up by 6.10am and swear the monks had a smug look as I passed them, cool as they like, back in their temple grounds! Another fail, like the Bangkok experience, and like when on Phi Phi I was desperate for a sunset photo so we power-walked over to the other side of the island, taking a 'shortcut' and ending up hotfooting it straight into the jungle as the sun went down, instead of finding the beach!

The night craft market here was really cool, stacks of jewelry, lanterns, 'handmade' things, and plastic cups of fresh fruit selections you choose and they blend with sugar and coconut milk for 5000 kip (under $1) smoothies.

And finally, for a note on my sanity. The ant bites are awful and seem mysteriously to be multiplying, my itchiest ones are clusters on my neck/ shoulders, and forearms, so i'm scratching at them furiously like some druggie. We bought tiger balm which helps. The malaria pills haven't given any side effects so far and amazingly we haven't gotten sick from food or water! The most annoying thing is that for SOME BIZARRE REASON whenever I see or think the word 'elephant', I get the playschool song '2 grey elephants balancing... step by step on a piece of string..' playing around and around in my head, and I don't know the rest of the words!!!! And this happens many times a day as most activities around here involve elephants, and they are all over jewelry singlets bags hats etc... oh no here we go again

So apart from the strange workings of my brain, I am having the time of my life, we aren't driving each other too mental and often spend a bit of the day apart doing our own thing or hanging out with new friends, but we're having an awesome time and aren't missing Melbourne at all!