Local transport-our boat up the Nam Ou and Mekhong

They actually drink this!

View from boat travelling north from Luang Prabang

Elephants washing in river

Still travelling up river

Our salubrious room in Nong Khiaw

Washing salad in river

Cant remember where but somewhere north of Luang Prabang

View from balcony

Muang Ngoi

Jasper and Lynsey our canadian friends we met in Muang Ngoi

UXO they now use for ornamental purposes!!

River trip up Nam Ou from Muang Ngoi

Great day with Jasper and Lynsey on river

Small village

Local children

Dinner for the locals

More local children

Beautiful north of Laos

Our river tri

Me trying to cast net not very successfully

Jasper with better attempt

Jasper and Lynsey from Vancouver

On the river

Barbecue fish on riverbank

Our bungalow Muang Ngoi

Praying Mantis

Our latest hotel with swimming pool-bit more expensive than recently but very nice!!

View from hotel in Vang Vieng

Tania in hammock in Vang Vieng

Playing with the kids in Vang Vieng

Pretty bugs!

Bizarre sign!!

After water slide

The slide

Someone else being stupid

Vang Vieng

Kayaking

Water swings at Vang Vieng

Me after falling out Kayak

Other kayakers

Tania tubing into cave

Tubing down river in Vang Vieng

Suzy and Tania at start of tube down river

Not sure if you can view this but at least you can see the splash!!

Since last blog we headed north to Muang Ngoi from Luang Prabang on a one day boat trip. We then stayed the night in a grotty 'hotel' in Nong Khiaw befotre heading further up river. Muang Ngoi and the surroundings were beautiful. We met a very nice Canadian couple, Jasper and Lynsey from Vancouver and spent three fun days with them going on a one day river trip with barbecue fish caught by our Laos boat driver/guide for lunch on the bank. Drank far too much of the local brew - Lao Lao and had a very good day. Jasper proved to be totally mad and seemed to have a death wish, already been mugged for his motorbike in Cambodia, hurt his foot and managed to get stung by a praying mantis while proudly showing us his find. His girlfriend Lynsey wasnt far behind managing to hurt her back on one of the water swings in Vang Vieng and stub her toe while with us also. Touch wood their bad luck hasn't worn off too much on us yet although I did bang my head while tubing in a dark cave and didn't do my back much good on a water slide in Vang Vieng.

After Muang Ngoi we headed south to Vang Vieng which is the backpacker party capital of Laos with tubing down the river via about 13 bars on the way.You can imagine the state of most participants at the end. We all arrived back in the town on the back of a truck singing Hey Jude, American Pie and any other somg that was known to all the various nationalities in the truck.- Great fun although I think I was old enough to be most of thems Dad!! I may have converted a few of the ravers to the delights of AC DC though when I took over the DJ stand at one of the bars.

We have also been kayaking where Tania proved very adept but I managed to be the only one to fall out fortunately only in three feet of water.

Tania has now found some wine in one of the shops in Vientanine and after a nice lunch of baguettes and pate - (it is very French influenced here as previously French colony) she is happy and I am just off to watch the rugby I am told is on. Heading south next to 4 thousand islands and then to Vietnam a bit behind schedule but who cares!!

Hope you like photos