Sabaidee (Hello in Lao)

The bedbugs in Pak Beng were dee-sgusting!!
I feel James didn't make enough of a fuss about it in the last blog. That's my job since I came off worse. It makes a girl feel quite ill. Thankfully my itchy lumps and bumps have nearly disappeared now.

So, Luang Prabang. It is quite possibly the prettiest place we have been so far on the trip. It's got South East Asian charm with French rustic chic. You can't go wrong with that combo.

We didn't have any accommodation when we all piled off the slow boat in LP, just as it was getting dark. We headed for the Pakam Guesthouse, where luckily there was a room free for us. 4 other French ladies from our boat had taken 2 other rooms there, so we thought it must be good. Was a lovely place - dark polished wood floors and a terrace to sit out on.

We were rather hungry so we went over the road to a row of outdoor restaurants that line the Mekong. I had the hottest Papaya Salad known to man, even though I asked for 'only a little bit spicy'. I think someone was having a laugh. Beer Lao helped us to settle in to the rather relaxed pace here. Enough to make us sleepy and send us to bed that first evening.

We decided to spend about a week here, which we have done. Luang Prabang is beautiful and has the best most laid back night market we've come across yet. Food is inexpensive if you know where to look, but you could also spend a small fortune.

One of our favourite places for food so far is Utopia. If you ever come here you should try to find it. We found it by mistake. Thai cushions on a bamboo platform overlooking crops and the Nam Khan River. Lots of butterflies.

We have perused the markets, and bought some items. James was despairing of me when he heard me trying to haggle down a lady for a patchwork duvet cover. I didn't think I was any good at haggling but it's amazing what you can do when you really want something. We now have our special duvet cover. You'd never find it in John Lewis. Bed linen is very important. Men don't understand.

We have been trying not to spend very much each day so we've not been on any trips, which is fine by me. I don't want to see an elephant playing basketball (!?)

We went to a charity book swap library yesterday to swap our existing books. You pay 2 USA dollars per book, and we paid for 5 school books to be distributed to local schools. We even chose the books ourselves. James' was to do with maps. Very apt. We got a bit carried away and ended up spending about 18 pounds. It's better spent on that than an expensive meal or basketball playing elephants.

One evening we bought a little bottle of white spirit alcohol stuff for 50p that we couldn't identify and mixed it with Sprite. Was quite horrid but was nice to sit out on the terrace with a drink watching a huge electrical storm.

The other day while we were eating our baguettes (French influence again you see) the sky went black and the women began packing up their stalls frantically. Within minutes there were the strongest gusts of wind that blew signs off buildings, enormous tree branches snapped off and were flying down the street. Was like being in Hurricane Hugo. Then the rain started and we were drenched. Had to shelter in a shop front. The shutters came down firmly behind us but other people were watching from outside too. Exciting stuff. We walked back to our guesthouse through the devistation. A corrugated fence around a building site was torn down. We have photographic proof - not yet uploaded though.

So we love it here but we are moving on tomorrow morning. We've booked a VIP bus to take us 10hrs to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We'll be there for probably another week.

Happy Easter Everyone!

M&J
xxxxx