Thursday 1st April - Had a cramped 5 hour mini-bus journey to Chiang Khong on the Laos border. Our guest house overlooked the Mekong river. Bought our 'slow boat' tickets to Luang Prabang which is a 2-day journey down the Mekong river with an overnight stop at Pakbeng.

Friday 2nd April - Up at 6 .30am to catch 10am slow boat to Pakbeng in Laos - had to get through Thai and Laos immigration on each side of the river first. About 60 backpackers on the boat. We were just settling into it when we had to change boats because the water level was too low to continue (it's dry season here at the moment). More trekking through sand and over rocks for a mile to get to a new boat. Unfortunately the new boat was even less comfortable than the first and extremely noisy. Getting off the boat Derek managed to almost knock himself out by whacking his head off the very low roof - he survived with only a dent to his pride (and a big bump on his head!). Delighted to discover a fantastic Indian restaurant at Pakbeng (which is truly the middle of nowhere!) and encountered our first tropical storm which managed to clear all the customers out of the restaurant in double-quick time! Early night for us as the electricity goes off after 10pm at night!

Saturday 3rd April - Eventually found the correct boat for our onward trip - no signs or directions anywhere but this is Pakbeng! Another 8 hours relaxing on the Mekong - the journey passed quickly as we chatted to fellow passengers in search of similar adventure . No change of boats today - hurray! Stopped at Pak Ou caves on the way - the caves are homes to hundreds of Buddha statues. This was our only real exercise of the day other than a spot of mountaineering to board the boat down by the cliffs this morning! Intended to go to the town centre but ended up going the wrong way and ending up at a restaurant where all the locals hangout. We enjoyed fantastic food once again whilst watching the teenagers come and go on their scooters.

Sunday 4th April - Luang Prabang - This place is so laid back - even people in a hurry move slowly! The local people are so friendly and courteous. Spent most of the day ambling around. Met some people from the boat later in the evening at the Hive bar. Saw a guy on a bicycle with what can only be described as a mobile hardware shop! Everything from buckets to mops to sweeping brushes and all on two wheels!

Monday 5th April - Happy 40th Birthday Andy! Hired bikes for the day for a pound for both . Derek had a lovely pink one! It was Sue's brother's Andy's 40th birtday today (happy birthday Andy!) but as he wasn't there we celebrated Australian Michelle's 25th birthday instead. Michelle kindly donated her South East Asia phrasebook to us to replace the one that we'd managed to lose!Derek was very pleased as he continues with his linguistic experiments on locals!

Tuesday 6th April - Liked the bikes so much we hired them again! Intended to visit a few locals Wats (Temples) but ended up only making it to one! There was a downpour in the afternoon - looks like rainy season has arrived early! Had our first Lao massage (couldn't resist it at 1 pound 50 each!) which was even more relaxing than the ones we had in Thailand! Bumped into Wes and Mer (who we met on the trek) and in the evening went for an Indian with them and 2 other Irish lads - one from Kells and one from Wexford.

Wednesday 7th April - Today we jumped in a tuk-tuk with 5 others and headed to the Khouang Sy waterfall (1 hour from Luang Prabang) . It was absoloutely beautiful place to visit and was even more amazing after a 200 foot climb to the pool at the top. We found many local monks there bathing in their orange robes - quite a sight! On the way down we visited a tiger and some small black bears that had been rescued from poachers and are looked after by the locals. In the evening we headed to the theatre for some local culture. It was a ballet in which the bad guy got the girl - the costumes stole the show really! Afterwards there was a display of local talent of men and women who lift pots full of water weighing 40kg with their teeth (Don't try this at home folks!). When we got back to our guest house one of the young lads who worked there had cut his foot on some glass in a pond and it looked infected. He hadn't visited a doctor (not sure if there's any or they just can't afford it!) so Sue came to the rescue with some bandages and cream which seemed to do the trick!

Thursday 8th April - Found a great riverside cafe that served a fried breakfast with fruit, tea, juice, milkshake and baguette - all for a pound ! Hired the bikes again for a 3rd time! Climbed 329 steps to Mount Phoussi where he met a Dutchman who told us a couple of amusing stores about Lao airlines (Our guidebook says the US government issued a warning about their safety record) - one where everyone on the plane was ill during the flight due to the pilot thinking he was piloting a stunt plane and another where the plane took off before everyone was seated!!! Went for another Lao massage as it was so good last time round - please don't think we are on some kind of massage parlour trip - we know it sounds seedy but trust us!