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Other entries in Luang Prabang

Spartan.......

After a lazy time in V.V. we arrived in Louang Prabang, which is as hard to say as it is to write, recharged and ready to explore.  When we were tubing on the river we met Rasta ( amsterdam) who looks like Spartan from the movie 300.  As he was alone we asked if he would like to travel with us for a while, his route was taking him to Chiang Mai around the same time as ours.

We all crammed into a minibus for the six hour journey over the mountains ( 12 people ).  We opted for mthe minibus on Mickeys recommendation, which for future reference is of no benifit unless you are a midget or sadistic.  We couldnt move our legs and sleeping was impossible, the road throught the mountains had six bends every minute, over six hours thats a lot of bends.  We stopped off in a mountain village for baguettes, hmmmmm, and the locals were having a cock fight.  I was over watching the two birds literally eating each other alive.  It was brutal, but hey thats entertainment.

The waterfall is the main attraction along with the multiple bakerys.  An afternoon at the waterfall was just not enough, there were fresh water lagoons, a swing and the splash pool at the bottom of the waterfall.  The water was a beautiful shade of blue / green and very clean.  We visited the French and scandinavian bakerys for quality time with coffee and pastry. 

I made an effort on the first morning to get up at 6.00am to watch the Monks parade throughout the town recieving food offerings from the locals.  They are not permitted to eat after midday and they do not buy food.  There were around 200 monks dressed in their saffron robes soaked through with the rain.  I bought some bannanas and gave them as a bribe to take photos.

Beer lao is an institution, everywhere tourists are wearing t-shirts and sipping the nectar from the 600ml bottles.  We headed out for dinner with Rasta two girls from USA to a local restaurant and ordered as usual western food.  A few beers, then Lao Lao ( local firewater ) a few more beers then a Tuk-Tuk ride to the Bowling alley.  Everywhere around the town has to close down at 11.00pm.  The bowling alley is like a youthclub, really basic, but its busy with all the lushes wanting more drink.

Once again we bottled it and booked a flight to Thailand, the other option was to sit on a wooden bench on a slow boat for two days and chug chug up the river, then get a bus for five hours to Chiang Mai.  One hour by aeroplane, easy choice.

Songkran ( water festival - people believe that water will wash away bad luck.) is just starting all over the region.  Some kids line up on the street and launch buckets of watrer over cars and anyone who passes.  Suggs got soaked while we were in a mini bus, smack in the face.   Songkran is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place" as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. The most-talked about celebration takes place in the northern province of Chiang Mai where Songkran is celebrated from April 13 to 15. During this period, people from all parts of the country flock there to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran Contest and the beautiful parades.  Hopefully they will be looking for a few Irish Judges, fingers crossed.

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