Luang Prabang

13^th November

There's a lot to be said for going to bed early. When I woke up I was feeling much better, my ears felt completely normal and for the first time in a few days I didn't feel shattered! This didn't last long obviously as we decided to have a good long walk around Luang Prabang.

Of course we had to stop off and have some breakfast so we visited the famous Joma Cafe. They only serve western food but it was nice seeing (and eating) bread! Rory and I both had bagels and I splashed out on a chocolate milkshake which was unreal! After our leisurely breakfast we took in the sights and stopped off at local temple. It wasn't the grandest temple we've seen but it was nice and there were very few people there so that was a welcome change. We then ventured back on to the main road and stopped for a croissant in the Lonely Planet recommended Le Banneton Cafe  It was very surreal, eating a croissant in what felt like a very French bakery, while watching the young Buddhist monks walking past.

We spent the rest of the day walking around and later, asking about the elephant riding programmes Luang Prabang is famous for. The Stray recommended Elephant Village was the most expensive package we saw and it was also full so we settled for the All Lao Travel company and booked ourselves on an all-day Mahout training course!

Despite our many snack stops we headed out for a nice and slightly expensive dinner. After reading the good reviews online and in our Lonely Planet book I decided on Le Cafe Ban Vat Sene and the decision certainly paid off! Rory went for water buffalo in a honey and onion sauce with French fries and pasta on the side. I went with the BBQ chicken with French fries and sautéed carrots. Both our meals came with a lovely side salad and vinaigrette dressing, a basket of French bread and free drinking water! This probably doesn't sound remarkable, but for Southeast Asia, it is. We also ordered a big bottle of water (before we realised you got the free stuff) and our meal came to just under 150,000Kip which at £12 is an absolute bargain!

The food might not seem exotic but Laos was a French colony so we technically did eat traditional food, it just wasn't rice! Also, look at what we stumbled across on our way home – I think this fella might have escaped being served as dinner!