We were in the final parts of our journey and mine in South East Asia.  We walked around the town of Luang Prabang which was very French from the buildings to the food.  We visited the Presidential Palace and temples, had a foot massage, organised an elephant tour and our bus to leave afterwards and went to the Tamarind Restaurant.  It was great to have a relaxing day after lots of travelling.

Can you tell which is the statue and which is Niels below?  The guy on the right below is trimming his nails with a very large knife.  Not for the faint hearted.

The next day was an early start, 4:30am to watch the monks on their daily routine to acquire food.  So I joined in and sat on the pavement and placed rice in their containers. This was the best day of our entire trip, the monks and then the elephant tour, we were picked up at 7:45am and then another couple from New Zealand, Pip and Peter.  We spent the entire morning with two female elephants, 37 and 39 and a baby, 9 months old .  We heard the call of the Mahout, which are companions (keepers) of the elephants for life.  We watched them bath and even joined in and feed them their favourite, bananas.

Elephants bathing

We then followed them up the stream through the paddocks. It was an amazing experience, the front foot and the corresponding back foot land in the same place after it has been checked by their trunk and they move very quietly except for the baby who charges around.  The bond with their trainer is amazing and they are constantly talking to them.  This elephant sanctuary doesn’t allow riding which is great.  They also love mud, us not so much. 

Elephants

We had a wonderful lunch at the sanctuary and then we were dropped off back in town where we walked up Phushy Hill to another temple and great views.

We then had another massage and pizza for dinner and chocolate mouse.  You can see why it was the best day of the tour.  

The next day started early again being picked up at 7am for an 8am departure on a bus.  Now this was a VIP bus so what could do wrong I hear you asking. 

It was awful, very windy and of course I threw up! We arrived at Vang Vieng at 3:30pm, only 2 and a half hours late! We arrived at an old US airstrip, Lima Site 27 that was used during the Vietnam War (aka American War for my Vietnamese friends:)).  We found our accomodation after a little bit of difficulty, had a burger for dinner from a Japanese lady and organised a minibus this time to get to the capital in two days time.  

The next day was scooter day and we explored the wonderful place. About 5 years ago this was a humming tourist destination for drugs, alcohol and partying, but with an average of 28 deaths per year the authorities cleaned it up.  It is now quieter.  The scenery and driving was awesome.

We drove around and found the Blue Lagoon that had swings and fish that eat the dead skin off your toes.  

We then climbed a mountain and it was pretty step and we had flip flops on. 

We made it to the top and it was worth it for the view.

We had a little accident on the way down with Niels slipping and cutting his knee, and he got a lot of sympathy from me. This is a view of the town by the river, you can see why it is so popular. By the time we got back it was time for dinner so we went to a Thai-German Restuarant and talked with the owner. We was of Thai descent however had lived in Germany most of his life, had come here and loved the place and opened a restaurant.  However, it is best here, communist country, to blend in so he took a wife who has a daughter and dog.  So one week earlier he was single, now he had a family.  It seemed to work. 

We were lucky enough to also have a super moon so we went to the old airstrip to view it.

We returned our bikes and had a great sleep. We organised a mini bus to Vientiene and it left at 9am and we arrived at 1pm.  I sat in the front so there were no dramas.  We checked into our hotel and visited the National Museum which was interesting and then walked around and watched the sunset while trying to avoid getting a pedicure.  There were ladies riding around on push bikes who would do pedicures and they were very persistent.

We went to the night markets, had Indian for dinner and went to a candle festival that only happens once per year, so we were lucky. This is where people make donations and on the right they put money into each of the containers. They take candles and walk clockwise around the temple.

I then had my daily massage and we headed for bed.

This was the day to hire push bikes and our first stop was a monument that we climbed up into.

After that we went to the land mine museum.  This was very sad and sobering.  The Americans dropped more bombs on Laos than any other country has ever experience and this was to try and stop the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  The areas in red are where the bombs were dropped.

We went saw The Presidential Palace, went to a French Restaurant for lunch, visited the gold palace and after a hot day in the sun returned the bikes and had a well deserved ice cream.  This is the capital of Laos and it is small but I loved the place.  

The next day we flew out of Laos and back to Ho Chi Minh so I could pick up the rest of my gear, which was quite a lot and say good bye to some amazing friends:(.

After over a year in Vietnam and South East Asia, it was time to say goodbye.  I will remember Vietnam for the people and scooters, Cambodia for my friend Ang and dust, Malaysia for Desiree and Penang, Singapore for rainforest park, Hong Kong for dumplings, Myanmar for curries, monks and temples and Laos for the elephants and French food.

Till the next time South East Asia!

Dates: 11th November 2016 to 20th November 2016