Days 14 & 15 - Luang Prabang

Nearing the halfway point of our trip, and with a moderately difficult hill trek under our belts, it was time for some detente as we continued to lap up the vibrant, heady atmosphere of Luang Prabang. It's the kind of town in which you can wander around aimlessly, doing nothing in particular and still have heaps to see and do.

Our activities on these two days sort of blended into one, but I seem to remember (and so does my overflowing bag) at least two further trips to the night markets, a nice pedicure for $5 and a stroll all the way along the Mekong riverside until it hits the Nam Khan, passing several wats along the way.

On our last night, we began early by having a beer at a thai place on the river front - this place has arguably the best fried snacks in town - the crispy fried prawns and fish cakes were an absolute treat. Appetised for more thai goodness, we walked all the way through town, then turned left on the road that led out of it - and got partially waylaid by yet another market on the way.

We stumbled on this beautiful restaurant wrapped around a large pond teeming with pink lotus flowers. By this time the sun had well and truly set, and the coloured lights and candles had been neatly arranged in amongst the wooden tables and chairs. We picked a secluded spot, and ordered our thai favourites - tom yum goong and red curry. It was an absolutely delicious meal, fragrant and flavoursome - especially the soup, which unlike the ones you get in Oz was rich and creamy.

On the way back to the hotel, we went the other way down the riverbank and stumbled on yet another bar with seating that went nearly all the way down the water - this place had exceptionally good spring rolls, nice and oily which were just the ticket after a couple of beers.

I could have just hung around Luang Prabang for ever, but by Saturday it was time to move on - we had a late breakfast and strolled around town until 3pm, before leaving for the tiny local airport to catch a flight to Ha Noi.

Unfortunately, we had a rather unsavoury welcome to Ha Noi - which I had mentally pegged to be one of our trip's highlights. I'd read the section in the travel guide that warns you about cab drivers taking you to the wrong hotel, but this was so much worse it was unbelievable. Even though I swear every time I won't get done by touts at the airport, you're standing outside with all of your luggage next to a cab rank, and some guy comes over and asks would you like a taxi?

All I really care about is whether they're metered or not, or at least if you can negotiate a reasonable fare upfront. So I did so, made sure he knew where the hotel was, then followed him over to a "meter taxi" at the cab rank. This was all well and good until I discovered that this guy wouldn't be driving the taxi.

So we get in, and have to explain all over again where we want to go - the guy repeats it back to us then nods his head. He asks for the name of the guesthouse, we say we can't remember - our guide is in the boot - but just say please drop us off at the top of the street - Pho Tam Thuong.

Then we realise the meter isn't on - we ask, and he hands us a card with different suburbs on it and a range of prices, none of which we recognise. So he points to one - about $15 - and we agree, after all its a 30km trip from the airport.

After about half an hour we reach the city, and begin navigating our way through a maze of streets. We arrive at a hotel, but nowhere near the one we wanted - it was called Viet Hotel, and looked a lot more expensive than the $10 place we had earmarked.

There is a guy outside, who leans into the window and talks to the cabbie. We refuse to get out, grab the travel guide and then show the cabbie the map - repeating the name of the street each time. Now this guy must have been totally illiterate, besides speaking no english and having the worst sense of direction ever.

We tried to direct him towards the lake - Ha Noi's focal point - but he just went right around it and then turned the wrong way. I was getting quite pissy by this point, becuase he didn't seem to listen to a word I said - the good old patriachal sexism in action again. So I just started yelling the street name over and over. He pulls over at Pho Hang Thuong (we wanted Tam Thuong) - we write the name on a piece of paper and everything, but its no use - then he gets on his mobile to phone a friend, and stops the car in the middle of a busy intersection.

Realising he'll only listen to Adam, I shut up and let him do the navigating - the cabbie realises the only way he'll get rid of us is by listening to Adam, so Adam manages to negotiate us through the scooter-soaked traffic back to the right side of the lake. We then tell the guy to pull over, hand him the $15 and set out for our hotel on foot, which we found in a matter of minutes.