Luang Prabang

Lenna and I enjoying some Vino at the wine bar
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In Laos they say that too much work kills the brain and having spent only a few days here hanging out in Louang Prabang I am beginning to see where they are coming from!

After a little more than 8 hours cramped onto the slow boat I was more than happy to see Luang Prabang appear from the lush green countryside. It didn't take us along to secure a nice room in a guesthouse, get showered and start exploring (I have been travelling with Lenna and an Italian guy Giacomo since we left Thailand).

I run along beside her thinking she just wants me to offer them food so I catch up with the monks and start putting some rice and sweets into there containers and follow them into one of the temples

Drinking in hive with some random travellers
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As it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995, it has retained its beauty and charm and is full of temples and french architecture with all the streets lined with colonial houses and palm trees. Walking around the town is just so relaxing with so many cafes to choose from to sit and people watch. Monks glide along everywhere - the majority of which appear to be novices. The most bizarre thing I saw was a monk checking his e-mail beside me one day in a net cafe...FYI he used Yahoo!!!

Monks on the street
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Kouang Si waterfalls is a day trip not to be missed when in Louang Prabang.  The waterfalls are simply amazing and a great place to spend a few hours swimming in the aqua coloured pools dotted all over the 60m high falls. The scenary on the way to the falls is amazing and a great way to see the inland countryside that you can't see from the slow boat. A tuk tuk costs on average $US15 for the day, regardless of how many people are on board. For this you can take in the waterfalls and the nearby Mong tribe village.

Me at Kouang Si
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As soon as we jumped out of the back of the tuk tuk at the Mong Tribe village a bunch of young kids, mainly girls, who were all lined up with little stools selling arm bands and purses started 'singing' in an extremely high pitched chorus "buy from me 2 5000, buy from me 2 5000 (basically meant 2 for 50cent)! It was deafening and heart breaking at the same time as the kids were so poor with filthy clothes on them and all trying to get you to desperately buy from them.

The kids are just so beautiful you just want to pick them up and take them with you. Our tuk tuk driver took us for a walk through the village where we saw first hand how the people lived. Every hut was selling some sort of handicraft so between us we tried to pick up a few items from different stalls.

Me at Kouang Si
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Everything in Louang Prabang closes by about 10.30pm with the exception of one or two bars (Hive being a good one) and for the hardcore that want to party on there is a bowling alley which we checked out the other night but didn't stay long as it was full of what appeared to be every young drunk traveller in the town bowling bare foot!

The other night we discovered a wine bar that actually sells decent wine (red wine is served cold everywhere so far in Asia). With bean bags outside and a big wine glass in your hand it is the perfect spot to watch the world go by!

Me at Kouang Si
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As today was my last morning in Luang Praband\g I decided to get up at 5.30am and watcht he buddhist monks walk along the main street in a procession as they do every morning and the locals offer them food. So there I was snapping away with my camera and a lady comes up to me and hands me a bowl of sticky rice and some sweets and starts running after the monks and grabs my hand. So I run along beside her thinking she just wants me to offer them food so I catch up with the monks and start putting some rice and sweets into there containers and follow them into one of the temples. Once the monks left she starts saying 2 dollar, you pay me 2 dollar!!! There was me thinking she was just wanting me to take part in the whole custom but oh no, she was looking for a gullbile tourist! I told her NO MONEY and walked off to have a nice breakfast after my hard mornings work while she mumbled a tirrade of Laos abuse at me...!! (pics of this to come soon)

Leanna and I at Kouang Si
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With Laos massages available from a variety of salons for US$3-4 and great Laos cuisine to sample it is very easy chill out here and I was finding it hard to leave  but after my encounter this morning I feel it is time to move on........my two travel companions moved on yesterday to Viang Vien (some 5 hours away by bus) so I am taking a mini bus to join them in a little over an hour....!