LuangPrabang

Laos was a great Country to visit and we had some very memorable days:
Elephants: Three of us took a ride out in to the jungle where we boarded a small boat to take us up river against the floodwater. I couldn't help thinking 'what happens if the engine fails'. We arrived at a jungle elephant sanctuary where Julia and I climbed in to a seat on the back of our elephant and the mahout sat behind his head. We set off in to the jungle for a memorable ride, even more so when he got off and I climbed down to replace him. The mahout just called out to the elephant as we walked off.  We got back and fed her bananas, they are great animals. We then boarded our boar again and went down river to a waterfall for a swim. A great day.

Cooking: The following day we went on a Laos cookery course. This involved going to the market with the chef in Tuk Tuks, to be shown all the different vegetables and herbs and spices. We also went in to the butchery section which I will not describe here in detail. Needless to say I thought China was interesting but there were some surprises in this market!! We then went out to a beautiful location for the course. The chef was great and we made some lovely food which we cooked and ate with cold beer.

Jungle Trek:
Our last two days in Laos were spent in the jungle. We went down river for some miles before finding the 'huts' we were staying in. Some more interesting than others. Lots of interesting insect life trying to share our space but wonderful as you could not get further away from normal life.

It has finaly stopped raining and we have left our truck Calypso in Laos. We reluctantly boarded a luxury air conditioned coach and drove in to Vietnam. We have arrived in Hue which for those of you who followed the war this is an interesting place. That's all for now must lay down in front of a fan.